Third Time's the Charm
by winter s. jameson
Summary: Two months of black vans exploding around the main branch of the New York Public Library. Nothing to go on but an unknown ectoplasmic signature. The Ghostbusters are quite frustrated. Everything escalates when the latest incident leaves three people dead - a group of government agents arrives to help the investigation. Will both teams be able to figure it all out in time?
1. Chapter 1

_Once upon a time, far too long ago, there was a roleplaying campaign using Palladium Books' Beyond the Supernatural system. The player characters created a team of CIA agents that were part of a secret branch of the agency, the answer to the FBI's X-Files, that investigated various supernatural incidents around the world and even in different dimensions. The idea eventually came to me that those characters and that agency would make an interesting addition to my RGB universe, and the seed to this story was born. So the original characters you'll meet in the upcoming chapters are actual player characters from that campaign - and I have to thank all of my friends who took part. Brian and Jon, Jim, Eric, Josh, Bill, Mike, and L.T. - all of us together made that an amazing, completely unforgettable experience that I always look back on fondly. I hope I do all of us justice._

_I hope all of you enjoy this wild ride, at least as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please feel free to let me know what you think!_

* * *

The shrill ringing of the bedroom phone tore the four Ghostbusters from the arms of slumber with a vengeance. "What now?" Peter Venkman groaned almost unintelligibly, pulling the covers over his brown-haired head.

"Ghostbusters," Winston Zeddemore said around a yawn, the black man being the first to reach the offending device. His dark brown eyes were closed.

He listened for a moment then his eyes snapped wide open. "We'll be there as soon as we can. You can count on us." He hung up the phone and jumped out of bed, scrambling for his wardrobe and the clothing within. "Come on, guys, up and at 'em. There's been a strange explosion at the corner of Fifth and Forty-second and there are people down."

"People have been hurt? Oh, no!" Ray Stantz cried, horrified at the thought as he joined Winston in his hurry to get dressed.

"Not to be crass or anything, but what does that have to do with us?" Peter grumbled as he dragged himself out of bed to follow the example, albeit slower, of his colleagues.

"Like I said, Pete, there was a strange explosion. The teams the police brought in can't explain it. Beginning to sound familiar?"

"That does sound like the pattern of strange incidents that have been occurring for the past two months," Egon Spengler said thoughtfully, already halfway dressed. "Let's hope we can find more conclusive evidence than we have at previous encounters."

"But this _is_ supernatural, right?" Peter asked after pulling a grey t-shirt over his head. "We aren't running around and looking like fools for nothing, right?"

"We don't look like fools," Ray argued as he tied his second boot's laces. "No one's been holding us to blame for the explosions. Even the police have admitted numerous times that there's just nothing to go on."

"Well, no matter what anyone's been saying or not saying, the confidence level of our public cannot be boosted by this. Heck, _I'm_ not thrilled by our performance. You guys are _sure_ there's nothing to go on?"

"Peter, you know we would have told you if there was," the blond physicist said as he made a final adjustment to his suspenders. "The only thing we know is that there's a common ectoplasmic signature, one that we've never encountered before. It appears that only black vans have been targeted, yet there's no correlation between each vehicle other than their color. There's not even any set time these explosions take place."

The psychologist sighed. "I know all that, Spengs. I'm sorry if I sounded like I was blaming you. It's just that this is getting really frustrating. The only thing I can see even remotely common about all these, apart from the flashing lights and weird electrical noises people usually report a day afterward, is that they all seem to be taking place around the main branch of the New York Public Library, and we can't even be sure of that thanks to Bryant Park."

"Hey, you don't think there's a ghost out there that's using this to get back at _us_, do you?" Ray suggested, pausing in the act of straightening his sweater vest. "I mean, it's common knowledge now that we ran into our first real ghost there. What if it's some spirit's way of telling us to stop busting?"

"I think you're a little off base there, homeboy," Winston said skeptically, standing and stretching after finishing getting dressed. "That seems like a pretty flimsy connection, and nothing's actually happened _at_ the library."

"As far as we know," Egon corrected. "Things may have occurred and no one has mentioned the incidences. We did not make many friends there the last time we were called in at that location."

Peter snickered wickedly. "Maybe not, but Delacourt's face was priceless." He allowed himself a few more chuckles then cleared his throat meaningfully. "But pleasant memories aside, we have a job to do. Let's get to it." He brushed off his sweatshirt and ran to the pole, sliding down to the ground floor and quickly followed by the others. Their converted hearse, Ecto-1, tore out into traffic soon after.

* * *

"Ah, it's nice to see you arriving promptly for once," a tall, lean, balding man in a colonel's dress uniform said from his standing position behind a desk as the last two people of the team he had called together walked into the room and closed the door behind them. They looked at each other briefly and made their way to the two free seats in front of him.

"Well, I didn't have anything better to do, so I figured what the heck," the newly arrived man said flippantly, a twinkle in his dark brown eyes as he leaned against his chair.

"Dillinger, cool it," a Chinese-American man dressed in a red windbreaker and black sweatpants said from his position next to the desk.

"So what's so urgent?" the only woman in the room said, crossing her arms over her chest and flipping her long, straight black hair over her shoulder. "It's got to be something big for you to pull us off our week break."  
"It's only a day early, Marconi," the colonel said a touch annoyed. "And it's not so much big, as... important. We have reports coming in that there's supernatural activity occurring around the main branch of the New York Public Library, and it's been going on for the past two months." He seated himself.

"And how is that news?" the Chinese man asked. "The Ghostbusters deal with that kind of stuff on a daily basis there. That's why you have a small, permanent team based out of the city, so we can keep tabs on them."

"Have a seat, team," the uniformed man said seriously. Once the three of them had done as requested, he continued. "The main target appears to be black vans."

"And what does that mean?" the leader of the trio asked.

"It means this, Lau. We believe there may be a connection to E-Branch. There may be a ghost or some other supernatural force attempting to get revenge on our agents."

"So why don't you send in the team you have there?" Marconi asked, cocking her head to the side as she narrowed her bright blue eyes.

"We just received word that they were killed last night in another explosion. We're not even sure they were deliberate targets. Our experts looked at the reports from the police and what they had managed to glean about the Ghostbusters' additions and found that this was probably just an odd coincidence. The van didn't have its new plates yet." The man behind the desk continued to watch the last two arrivals carefully.

The woman took in a sharp breath through her teeth. "Well, that answers that question."

"So why us?" Dillinger asked. "You obviously purposefully picked us. Why?"

The colonel fixed him with a stern eye. "Looking through our records, we found that only one team has been directly involved in a supernatural incident at or near the library."

Marconi and Dillinger shot each other a surprised look, while Lau looked on suspiciously. "Why do I get the feeling there's a story behind all this that I really don't want to know, but I'm probably going to have to?" he said with a sigh.

"You can hear it on the plane," the colonel said sharply. "I'm sending you out in an hour. Get back to your residences and pack whatever you think you'll need. I want this done as quickly and quietly as possible. If the source is supernatural, I want the Ghostbusters getting the press. You know how to do it."

"Yes, Colonel Taylor. We're on it. Let's move, team," Lau said authoritatively, leading the other two out of the room.

* * *

"How are we going to handle this?" the black-haired woman asked once the three of them were ensconced in Lau's hotel room in New York.

"I think we'll do a little investigating on our own, and then visit the Ghostbusters."

"Are they cleared or do we have some sort of cover story?" Dillinger asked.

"They do have governmental security clearance, so I think we'll be able to be above board with them. I don't think we should go into too much detail, but we don't have to hide the fact that we're CIA agents. In private, at least."

"That's an odd change of pace," Marconi said with a sardonic twist of her lips. "Of course, so is an assignment outside the basement."

"Just take it as the blessing it is, Sabrina, and leave it alone," Lau said with a smile.

"So we stake out the library, possibly interview some witnesses and see what we come up with?" Dillinger queried emotionlessly. Sabrina shot a quick look at the man dressed all in black.

"Sounds good. Why don't we do it now, then we can catch lunch before dropping in on the area's supernatural experts?"

"Just one thing, Lau," the woman said, trying to share a look with the cold member of the team. They made a half-second's eye contact, and she was relieved to see his mouth twitch slightly.

"What's that?"

"No Taco Bell," the other two said in unison, rising to their feet and heading for the door.

Lau shook his head as he followed the smiling, to a greater and lesser degree, pair under his command. "One of these days you will let me in on that little inside joke, I swear."

* * *

"Okay, Spengs, you want to tell me why we're back here this morning? Didn't we get all the information we were going to get last night when it was fresh?" Peter asked as the four of them got out of Ecto-1 and stepped out onto the sidewalk at the sight of the explosion that happened before sunrise that morning.

"I wanted to make sure we weren't missing anything," Spengler said distractedly, his pale blue eyes on the PKE meter in his hand. "As you said earlier, Peter, we haven't exactly made a good showing of ourselves in regards to this matter."

"And you're frustrated as hell," Winston concluded, coming up on the physicist's other side. Egon didn't bother to respond.

"I think we all are," Ray commented from Peter's other side as he gazed around the area with a pair of ecto-scopes over his light brown eyes. "Earlier today, three people lost their lives because we hadn't figured this out yet." He gave a sad sigh.

"We're just lucky the press hasn't picked up on that," Peter said.

Egon shot him a narrow-eyed look. "I don't believe that is the most important factor at the moment, Peter," he said in a disapproving tone.

Peter returned his gaze seriously as he accepted the magnetometer from Winston and turned it on. "Maybe not the most important factor, Egon, but an important one all the same. Yeah, I'll admit the flack we'd get for not having solved this thing yet wouldn't exactly be good for business or our reputations, but look around you." He gestured to the pedestrians walking around the quartet in their usual New York hurry. "Do you think they'd still be this calm if they knew what happened? Do you think we'd be able to be standing here with just the occasional nasty hand gesture thrown our way to distract us while we work? No, this area would be overflowing with reporters and photographers, not to mention tourists and curious natives. The police might be able to put up a barricade and hold people back, but we'd still be stuck performing for the public eye. The extra scrutiny wouldn't exactly be the most supportive atmosphere, not to mention what could happen if this thing strikes again with all those people in the area. Most likely those three men wouldn't be the only casualties."

"Pete's got a point," Winston agreed quietly, lifting his eyes from the detection device he was using.

"He does," Egon said with a nod. "I apologize, Peter."

Peter grinned. "Don't sweat it, Spengs. Now I believe we have a job to do." He gave his blond friend a wink and started to walk around the accident site with his eyes on his hand-held machine. Egon shook his head fondly and did the same with his meter.

Fifteen minutes later, Peter had gotten everything he was going to get from the magnetometer and recorded his results onto a small notepad he had shoved in his breast pocket. He stood behind the other three as they finished their own scans, his stance lazy but his emerald green eyes sharp as they checked out the surrounding buildings. They finally settled on a trio of people: two men, one Chinese and one of indeterminate origin, on either side of an Italian woman with her eyes closed. "What do you think those people are up to?" he asked, pointing.

"I don't know, but they're not winning any points with the crowd by standing in the middle of the sidewalk like that," Winston commented as he shut down his device, his last reading written down in his own notebook.

"And neither are we," Peter said, grinning. "You getting anything, guys? Because otherwise we should probably get out of everyone's way before we get mobbed."

"Oh, wow," Ray breathed, excitement infusing his words. "That woman has a really strange aura surrounding her. It's kind of familiar, but I can't tell what it is."

Egon immediately turned the meter in that direction. "Hmm, I see what you mean, Raymond. I believe I have seen something similar in the past, but I'll have to look through our previous records. This bears further study."

"Hey, it's gone now!" Ray exclaimed.

"Oh, that's okay," Peter drawled. "Because the source of it all is headed this way, along with the two guys who look like they don't care for the way you were checking her out."

"Peter!" Egon reprimanded, but he didn't get any further along those lines due to the arrival of the people the psychologist had mentioned.

"Gentlemen," the Chinese man greeted them politely. "You would be the Ghostbusters, correct?"

"Did the car give us away, or was it the uniforms?" Peter responded sarcastically.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," the man continued, ignoring the insulting tone. "We've been sent by our superiors to investigate the events of the past two months. Would it be possible to speak with you about it?"

"You were finished with your scan of the area, right?" the woman asked.

Peter looked over at Egon with his eyebrows raised. "I don't believe we will be able to obtain any further information from this location at this time," the blond man said, turning off his meter and attaching it to his belt.

The brown-haired man at his side narrowed his eyes at the trio. "Just who are your superiors? And why would they be interested in this?" The suspicion was thick in his tone.

"They've got their reasons," the second man said with a shrug. "But this isn't the place to talk about it."

"If you'd agree, maybe we could meet you back at your headquarters?" the woman offered. "We can explain ourselves better there, and then share information that could be useful for all of us."

Peter shared a look with his three teammates. "What do you guys think?" he asked them.

Ray shrugged. "We could always use more information. I don't think it would hurt to hear them out."

"You'd say that about a class seven mega-specter," Winston said with a fond smile.

"Yeah, but he's probably right on this one," Peter said reluctantly after receiving a look from Egon that said it was up to him. He turned to the waiting threesome. "Fine. We'll talk to you. I just hope you have at least some of the answers we're looking for."

"I hope so, too," the Chinese man said with a wry smile. "I suppose we'll meet you at your headquarters then." Without waiting for a response, he nodded a farewell and led the other two people with him away.

The four Ghostbusters shared another look before packing up their detection equipment. When they looked back at the other three people, they saw them climb into a black convertible with the plates BBCOD 4. "Personalized plates. I wonder what it stands for," Winston queried as he and the others got into the old ambulance and headed for the firehouse in lower Manhattan.

"I'm sure it's something mysterious," Peter said with a roll of his eyes. "Black Trenchcoat Man sure makes me think so. Talk about someone with secret agent wannabe written all over him. Sheesh!"

"Peter, these people really could have some information that'll help us solve this case!" Ray enthused. "They sure seemed to know what we were doing there."

"Ray, even without taking what happened this morning into account, this area's been boiling over with supernatural events for the past two months. It wouldn't take much to guess that we were there to check it out during our investigation. It wouldn't surprise me to find out they were reporters."

"We'll get all our answers at Central," Egon said pragmatically. "Until then it's useless to speculate as to the reasons behind their interest in our activities."

"Ah, Egon. Always taking the fun out of things." Peter leaned back in his seat and waited out the rest of the ride home.

* * *

Janine Melnitz looked up from her typing as Ecto-1 pulled back into the garage. Her eyebrows rose when a few moments later a black convertible pulled in beside them and three people she had never seen before got out. "What's going on, guys?" she asked when her employers stepped out of their vehicle.

Peter looked over the hood of the car to where the three visitors stood patiently waiting. He sighed. "Janine, honey, it seems our guests want to talk to us about those weird explosions that have been going on for the last two months. Could you bring some coffee up to the lab?"

She scowled at him. "That's not in my job description, Doctor Venkman."

He grinned back at her. "Would you like it to be?"

"I don't believe we were formally introduced," Egon said quickly, cutting off the normal byplay of the secretary and psychologist. "I am Doctor Egon Spengler, my colleagues are Doctor Raymond Stantz, Doctor Peter Venkman, and Winston Zeddemore." The blond man gestured to each man as he said their name. "And of course our secretary, Janine Melnitz."

"We've heard of you, of course," the Chinese man said politely. "My name is Lau Long, and this would be Captain James Dillinger and Doctor Sabrina Marconi."

"Nice to meet you," Ray said with a smile. "Why don't we go up to the lab and talk?" He gestured toward the stairs.

"You don't have to worry about the coffee, Miss Melnitz," Lau told the still-fuming woman. "We'll be fine."

"Says you," Dillinger muttered under his breath. "_You_ aren't still suffering from jet lag."

"If you'd follow us?" Egon said, leading the way upstairs, Ray and Winston right behind him.

Lau and Dillinger fell into step behind the three men, while Peter came up next to Sabrina last in line, earning him an unseen suspicious glare from the trenchcoat-wearing captain. "So, what exactly are you a doctor of, anyway?"

She smiled at him knowingly. "That would be psychology."

His eyebrows rose. "Wow. I have two in psychology and parapsychology."

"I know. I also happen to be halfway to a higher parapsychology degree myself. When I can find time for the classes at any rate."

"Busy woman, huh? I hope not too busy to enjoy the finer things in life?"

"I find time to have fun. Although I just got called off my week-long vacation a day early for this." She rolled her eyes.

"Now that is a shame." He smiled ingratiatingly. "Maybe I'll be able to take you out sometime to make up for that."

Her sapphire blue eyes sparkled with merriment. "Once this case is solved it might be a possibility. The higher-ups don't care for leisure activities on the clock, so to speak."

His green eyes sparkled in kind. "One of the benefits of being your own boss." By this time they had reached the metal spiral staircase that led to the third floor. Peter gestured for Sabrina to take the lead. "Ladies first." He ignored the snort of amusement from Dillinger as the party continued their way up.

"There's a change of pace. I'm not used to being allowed to go first." She shook her head and followed her teammate.

"Then you aren't being treated like a lady should," Peter replied.

"I wouldn't say that. It's probably better for my health this way." Any quip Peter had been about to say died at that unexpected response.

Just before Lau reached the top of the stairs Sabrina stiffened and began looking around warily. "Lau, Dillinger, watch it!" she called, stopping her ascent and crouching down on the stairs.

Her teammates did the same, the man in black drawing a handgun in the blink of an eye. Sabrina and Lau gripped the railing of the stairs, prepared for the possibility of being knocked down them as well as ready to brace Dillinger if necessary. Peter and the rest of the Ghostbusters stared at them in shock and confusion, and half a minute later Slimer came swooping out of the open doors of the lab to greet them, covering each of the three men fully on the third floor with his ectoplasmic greeting.

"Hi, guys!" the little green blob cried cheerfully as he moved onto the next man in line, stopping in his tracks at the sight of Lau crouched near the top of the stairs. They could all tell that if he hadn't stopped where he was, Lau might have gotten knocked down the stairs in Slimer's exuberance before anyone would have realized what was happening. "Who's he?" the ghost asked.

Dillinger, meanwhile, drew a bead on the gooper, narrowing his eyes as he prepared to eliminate what he saw as a threat. Sabrina suddenly relaxed and let out a relieved sigh. "It's okay, Dillinger," she said to the man in front of her. "It's over. That was it. I think this is Slimer, the Ghostbuster's pet ghost."

"Yes," Egon said, stepping over to the stairs. "This is he."

"Come on over here, Slimer," Ray called. "Let them get up the stairs." The spud did as requested.

"Boy, am I glad I wasn't up there," Peter muttered so only Sabrina could hear. "If you think the slime job on the guys was bad, you should see what he would have done to me. But what just happened? Why'd you freeze?"

"Just a feeling, I guess. Dillinger," she said quickly to her teammate who had let his aim follow the moving spirit, "stand down. He's no threat. I promise."

The man's shoulders started to relax, but he didn't put the gun away until Lau gave him a stern, pointed look. "Now, Dillinger," he said intensely. The other man sighed and did as he was told.

Soon after, the seven of them had gathered in the lab, scattered around the room. Peter had invited Sabrina to share the couch with him, causing the other Ghostbusters to grin knowingly. The brown-haired man knew he was in for some serious teasing later. "So what kind of information did you want to share exactly?" Peter asked Lau, who stood leaning against one of the tables.

"As we mentioned earlier, we're interested in the case that you were investigating when we met a short while ago. We have reason to believe whatever supernatural events are taking place are being aimed at members of our organization." Lau shrugged. "We like black vehicles." Sabrina rolled her eyes while Dillinger chuckled from his position next to the closed doors.

"Which organization would that be, Mister Long?" Egon asked curiously. "Maybe we've heard of it."

"You haven't," Dillinger said shortly.

"Oh, you never know about that," Ray said. "We have some pretty far-ranging contacts."

"Believe me, Doctor Stantz, you don't," Lau repeated. "We've worked very hard to insure that. In fact, any publicity we manage to attract we're supposed to point in _your_ direction." He turned to face Peter. "You should like that, Doctor Venkman. No matter what happens, you and your friends will get the credit for solving this thing."

"While that's a definite plus, it still doesn't answer Egon's question. Who are you with?" Peter raised his eyebrows and gave each of the visitors an expectant look.

Sabrina looked a question at Lau, who thought for a moment then nodded his head. She made eye contact with the man next to her on the couch. "We're part of a secret branch of the CIA that investigates incidences of paranormal and supernatural origin. It's called E-Branch."

Four pairs of eyes widened. "Whoa," Winston said in amazement. "You mean the government is investigating the supernatural?"

Peter's look turned skeptical. "They better not be infringing on us. But I think the better question would be why the heck should we believe you?"

Sabrina reached into the inner pocket of her hunter green vest and pulled out a thin billfold. She handed it to him. "My I.D. If you look closely you'll see there's no way it could be fake."

"There're ways," Peter said confidently before examining the piece of plastic thoroughly. "This thing doesn't say anything about E-Branch," he said after a few moments, "but otherwise it looks like a real CIA badge."

"Do you believe it's real, Peter?" Egon asked.

Peter hesitated briefly before responding. "Yeah, I think I do," he said begrudgingly. "The jury's still out on the E-Branch thing, though."

Winston nodded. "It _is_ a bit out there," he agreed.

Egon looked over at their guests, who watched them all carefully. "But what would they have to gain from such a claim?" the physicist asked.

"And why would they be interested in our investigation?" Ray piped in. "We may not know exactly what's going on, but it's more likely ghosts than some international spy."

"You would have to point that out," Peter grumbled. "And then there's the reports of how the CIA uses remote viewers and has been funding various psychic studies over the years. Taking that into consideration I guess it's not as far out there as it looks." He handed Sabrina her wallet back. "Okay, so you're E-Branch. Why haven't we run into you around New York before?"

"We aren't based in New York," Lau replied. "We _do_ normally have a team based here because of all the activity in the area, but we're more than happy to let you handle it. Our efforts lean more toward the more subtle occurrences that take place outside your usual territory, especially outside the country."

Dillinger smiled, a touch of frost in the expression. "You have to admit, you can't get much more outside the country than another dimension."

Winston raised a hand for a moment to get everyone's attention. "Wait a second. You said that you _normally_ have a team in New York. Why aren't they here now?"

The three agents became completely serious. "They died in the most recent explosion," Sabrina said softly. "We were sent out as soon as we received word."

"We're sorry," Ray said immediately, his tone sympathetic.

"We didn't know them personally," the woman replied with a look toward Lau. When he shook his head, she continued. "Although it hurts in a way because they were fellow agents. It makes it all the more important to us that this case is solved, and soon."

"So what do you already know about the investigation?" Egon asked.

Sabrina and Dillinger looked over at Lau, suggesting to the Ghostbusters that he was their commander. The Chinese man gestured to the black-haired woman. "Well, let's see," Sabrina said slowly, her eyes unfocused for a moment. She blinked and looked around the room. "Okay. For the past two months, at random intervals, black vans are exploding at various times of the day and night. The police can't explain them, and you've only been able to find traces of ectoplasmic energy signatures, not enough to build any leads. They've all taken place around the main branch of the New York Public Library, with no out-of-the-ordinary occurrences taking place inside that have been reported. Within twenty-four hours of each explosion, noises and lights are reported for a period of approximately fifteen minutes, and then nothing." She shrugged. "That's pretty much what we have."

Peter's mouth twisted into a wry smirk as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Pretty much all we have, too," he said, his tone matching his expression.

"Do you have any theories as to the reason for these attacks?" Egon asked.

"A few years ago there was a confrontation between E-Branch and Spiritech agents over a certain book at the library. Things... didn't go well," Lau explained. "We've expanded the color scheme of our vehicles since then, but at the time we used black vans pretty exclusively. It was easy to fit in with the public at large and it was large enough to carry the array of equipment we might need to accomplish any mission."

"Hold on a second. Spiritech?" Winston queried. "As in the international company that deals in all sorts of trade goods? Why would you be facing off against their people?"

"The company is a marvelous cover, Mister Zeddemore," Sabrina said with a fierce scowl. "The president of the corporation in particular is looking for power, magical and supernatural power, anyway he can get it. These people don't care what they have to do or who they have to go through. _We_ have regulations, limits to what we can do - they don't. We've had to deal with them too many times to count." The other two members of her team wore matching expressions of utter anger and loathing.

"Wait a minute, a few years ago?" Ray asked. "Would that be about the same time as that all-out gang war that happened near the library? The one where all those cars were blown up and all that damage was done to those buildings? They blamed us for it at first, said some of the marks looked like what our proton packs can do. But we were upstate handling another bust at the time. Was that it?"

Sabrina shared a quick look with Dillinger before responding. "Yeah, that was it. A lot of the damage was Spiritech's fault. Like I said, they don't care what they do. We came up with the cover story of a gang war." Her right hand rubbed the center of her chest absently.

Peter's green eyes narrowed. "You were there, weren't you?" Sabrina started in surprise. "You were there and something happened. Something bad. What was it?" Peter's comments were intense, but there was curiosity and concern behind it all.

The other psychologist shot a quick look at Lau, who shrugged, and let her gaze linger longer on Dillinger. The man in black went completely cold, withdrawing into an emotionless shell and becoming utterly alert. Suddenly all four Ghostbusters were extremely afraid of this man. Finally his eyes, having shifted to a deep, intense brown just this side of black, met Sabrina's sapphire blue ones and he nodded sharply once.

She sighed, dropping her head as she turned back to the four men who didn't know the tale. When she raised her head again, tears filled her eyes, but a fierce anger filled her expression. "It was early in E-Branch's history," she began quietly. "Dillinger and I had been teamed up from the beginning under Connor Drake, our field commander. Connor had just been transferred to Interdiction, and our new commander was a man we knew as Hawk. Our first assignment with him was supposed to be simple. We had heard that there was a mystical book somehow kept under wraps at the main branch of the library, and that Spiritech was interested in it. They were going to be sending someone to pick it up, and we were supposed to stop them. Like I said, simple, right? The man they were sending went by the name of Vincent Vega." She sighed as she wiped away the tears.

"Dillinger and I had a brief run-in with him that afternoon on our way back from grabbing something to eat that nearly resulted in our being blown to kingdom come - just say no to grenades, by the way, and don't talk to strangers like your mom always told you. But everything was set up inside the building, and we were just waiting for our man to make his appearance. He finally did, and I can happily say that I managed to get him with my taser." She smiled smugly as she snapped her wrist, causing a small black device to fly into her hand. "This little baby has saved my life more than once, and I don't always have to kill people. Anyway," she continued as she replaced the non-lethal weapon, "Vega was down, but not out. In the utter confusion that happened next, we lost the book, and had to chase after it. We hopped into the BBVOD, Dillinger at the wheel, and got ready to go, but were quickly cut off by another vehicle full of Spiritech agents."

"I don't mean to interrupt," Winston said quickly, "but I have to know. What does that stand for? I noticed your car has a similar plate."

Sabrina smiled. "Big Black Van of Death. And believe me it fits. You wouldn't believe the amounts and kinds of weaponry we put in those things. Oh, and other equipment, too."

"Sure," Peter drawled. "Right."

She shot him a quick smile and went on. "Hawk decided to try to get around them his way, and went out the back on his motorcycle and took off. He got to about the front of our van when a weapon that I'd never seen before - although I'm sure Dillinger had - fired from their vehicle hitting the bike. There was an explosion, sending Hawk into the air and out of sight; we never saw him land. That left the two of us to deal with a van full of people ready to kill us to keep us from the book. We're thinking that we're still okay - the van's bulletproof after all, even the tires - when they decide to turn the big guns on us, the same one they used on Hawk. A particle weapon."

All four Ghostbusters gasped at that. "But our designs are patented!" Ray protested.

Sabrina nodded. "I know they are. From what I can tell and what I've been told, these weapons - that our military has, too, don't let 'em fool you - are based on a different principle. The beams only look like what your proton packs produce, but they can cause some serious damage." She made a sour face. "Especially to your hair."

"I take it you know this thanks to personal experience?" Peter asked.

"Unfortunately, yes, although that's a different story or two... or three. Back to what I was saying though, Spiritech turned their particle weapon on the front of our van. Bulletproof it may have been, but energy weapons tend to ignore such things as armor plating. Soon enough they were cutting through our engine block, and we realized we needed to get out of there or we'd be dead. Unfortunately they were waiting for us outside, a sniper having gone out with the guy with the book." She grinned wickedly. "I guess they didn't realize that I had with me someone better than they could ever dream of having. Lieutenant James Dillinger, his rank at the time, was - and still is - the greatest sniper in the world. I've seen him take out an outboard motor at the range of a mile.

"Not being completely stupid and realizing we were totally outgunned, we called in the cavalry from the mobile phone in the van. But we still had to deal with these idiots until they could get there, and hopefully keep the book from getting away. So, since we had an arsenal at our disposal, we completely armed ourselves and went to town. Dillinger threw open the side door and laid down suppressing fire, causing the man with the book to run and covering my own exit from the van. The two men exchanged fire, from everything I heard later, while the other car took off, eventually leading to Dillinger using the underslung grenade launcher to take out the cars the other man was hiding behind. Meanwhile, I was playing hide and seek with Spiritech's messenger boy, both of us dodging in, out, and around parked cars, taking pot shots at each other as we could. I finally got him in my sights, and I rolled behind a car ready to come up shooting. Unfortunately, he had the same idea, and had picked the same car to hide behind. We surprised each other, and he recovered just a couple seconds faster than I did. He unloaded half a clip into my chest, dropping me, and managed to get away with the book." Again her hand rubbed at her chest.

"I found out later that Dillinger wasn't all that far behind me, having finally taken care of his man, and he found my body bleeding all over the sidewalk. Luckily for me, our backup had finally arrived and they somehow managed to keep me in the world of the living. Don't ask me how; even with my training I couldn't tell you how they did it. I do know we have some people in E-Branch with some special gifts, and I can only assume they put them to good use for me. What really pisses me off, though, is that they got the damn book, and killed my commander. And nearly killed me of course, but that goes without saying. They rubbed the book in our faces later, but we usually win our little face-offs, so I tend to do the same in return. I like that part of the job." Her evil grin returned and she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Do you know the name of the book?" Ray asked curiously.

Sabrina looked apologetic. "Sorry, Doctor Stantz. I can't tell you. It's classified."

"That's okay. I guess I kind of expected that. And call me Ray."

She smiled. "And you can all call me Sabrina."

Lau nodded. "It looks like we'll be working together on this one. I think we'll all be more comfortable if we're on a first name basis."

"Except for him." Sabrina hiked a thumb over her shoulder at the man standing guard by the door with a smile. "You can call him Dillinger. It's what we call him. That okay, Dillinger?" She turned her head to look at him.

He shrugged, having thawed out now that the recollections were over, although there was a coldness lingering in his eyes. "Doesn't bother me. They're not military. Except Zeddemore, but he served his time. He's okay." Winston raised an eyebrow at that but didn't comment.

"How about the rest of you?" Lau asked. "Would you be comfortable with us calling you by your first names? We'll work with whatever you want."

Peter looked at Winston and Egon. "That should all right," he said after a moment.

"That settles that then," Lau said as Sabrina laid a gentle hand on Peter's forearm. She gave him a grateful smile that made him relax a bit. "Now I think we need some theories of who this mad spectral bomber could be. What has everyone got?"

"Hold on a second, Lau," the black-haired woman said quickly, rising to her feet as the Ghostbusters looked at the Chinese man shocked. "You may be Dillinger's and my commander, but these are civilians with their own group structure that I'm sure works perfectly well. We're already walking all over it by butting in on their investigation. Don't belittle them by trying to take over. At the very least stop sounding like this is the rest of the E-Branch team." She smiled wryly. "I doubt they'll give you anywhere near as much trouble."

Lau stared at her for a moment, the intensity being returned in kind. Finally, he backed down. "Alright, alright, fine. You got me. Sorry, gentlemen. My training took over there for a minute. We really do want to work with you as equal partners."

Peter nodded, his eyes narrowed slightly as he gazed at the agents' commander. "Yeah, if we work together it'll be as equals. We've already put in the time on this one, and it looks like we'll be taking all the credit, good or bad, from what you said earlier. You'll probably want to remember that."

Lau nodded. "I'll do my best. You have to remember I'm used to leading a large number of people in this sort of investigation. I may backtrack from time to time." He smiled.

"Yeah, well, don't get offended if I put you back in your place when you do," Peter replied, his expression lighter than it had been.

"When, huh? It's good to know you have so much confidence in me." Lau chuckled and shook his head. "Anyway, now that you've heard the story, do you have any ideas as to who this bomber could be?"

"From what you've said, the only two deaths that occurred during the incident were the man Dillinger faced off against and your commander, Hawk," Egon offered. "I would theorize the identity of the bomber would belong to one of those two men."

"The readings were muted," Ray added, "but there were slight Class Four overtones. That would explain those."

"But not the readings being muted, I hope," Sabrina said as she sat down once again.

"No, not that," Spengler agreed. "We still haven't determined a cause for that. Unfortunately, the readings we have managed to get haven't been substantial enough."

"Those aren't the only men dead, though," Dillinger chimed in. "Vega's dead, too." He gave a chilling smile. "I should know. I killed him myself."

"And then did it again. On vacation, if you can believe that," Sabrina said with a roll of her eyes.

"Again?" Winston asked, shocked.

"Well, not really again. Turns out Spiritech was trying to raise the slimy bastard. Dillinger had been assigned to lead one of the newer teams - while he was _supposed_ to be on vacation - that had been sent to find out what the heck Spiritech was doing somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. Our favorite corporate lackeys had gathered at a center of power, and were going to use it, as I said, to bring Vega back from the dead. Don't ask me how; I have no idea. They were in the middle of the ceremony when Dillinger blew them all to kingdom come with the C4 the E-Branch team had buried under the spot to be used as a last resort. Totally vaporized the body along with a couple of the people that had been standing there as well."

"I would still lean more toward the first two men mentioned," Egon said firmly. "Their violent deaths were directly connected to the incident that appears to have inspired the attacks. But we will keep the fact of Vincent Vega's death in mind."

"Fair enough," Dillinger conceded. "Just thought I'd let you know."

"What can we do to help you get the information you need to figure out what's going on?" Lau offered.

Ray and Egon exchanged a look. "I'm not really sure," the occultist replied. "But if you could run some of our detection equipment we could take even more kinds of readings at once. That might help."

"I know we've tried this before, guys," Winston said slowly, "but what if we go back to the site of the explosion and wait for the lights and noises? They're supposed to happen within twenty-four hours."

Peter shrugged. "And hey, it's not like we're busy with other jobs right now. It's been slow lately. And maybe a chance to get paid by the government?" He looked at Lau hopefully.

The field commander laughed. "We'll see that you get paid for your services, Peter. It won't be public knowledge of course, but you will get paid."

"Well, that's settled then," the psychologist said smugly. "Let's not keep these nice agents waiting any longer, shall we? We have a job to do."

"Speaking of agents," Sabrina said as the group of them began gathering up various pieces of equipment at Ray and Egon's direction. "It would probably be best if you didn't mention our affiliation in public. The last thing we need is some ghost or Spiritech agent overhearing and deciding we need to be eliminated."

"A very wise precaution," Egon agreed. "Since the ghost is targeting black vans and by extrapolation E-Branch agents, it would be foolish indeed to suggest that you are part of that organization. We won't say anything."

"But what do we say?" Winston asked. "We don't normally have outside people helping us with our cases. People are going to wonder."

"We're members of a parapsychology organization from Colorado that heard about the troubles you were having and came to offer our services," Lau suggested. "It would explain our knowledge and your acceptance."

"That works for me," Peter said. "You guys are used to coming up with cover stories on the fly like that, aren't you?"

"Way too used to it, Peter. Way too used to it," Sabrina said with a rueful twist to her lips.

The seven of them finished their packing and headed out.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you to everyone who has decided to start riding this train with me! I hope you're ready for the next part of the ride... Enjoy, and feel free to let me know what you think!_

* * *

"So have you guys ever been able to catch the light show the day after one of these things?" Sabrina asked Ray as the two of them scanned their detection devices directly over the site of the explosion.

"No, unfortunately. Our timing has just been off, sometimes only by minutes. We do have witnesses' reports, but that's not enough to make an accurate identification."

"The readings fade that quickly then?"

Ray nodded. "We've theorized there has to be a powerful entity connected somehow that's masking everything. It's the only reason we can come up with for what's been happening." He grinned at the woman. "It's actually really exciting. I love a challenge like this. Keeps things interesting."

Sabrina couldn't help but laugh. "I love a good challenge myself. I just wish I weren't so personally connected to this one."

The occultist's expression softened. "I'm sorry about that. But we'll do what we can to help solve it. With the information you gave us it should be easier to figure out whatever readings we do get."

"I hope so, Ray. I definitely hope so."

* * *

"What made you want to investigate the supernatural?" Winston asked Dillinger as that pair used their devices along the perimeter of the library.

The other man shrugged. "I was assigned to."

"So it wasn't by choice?"

"Come on, Zeddemore, you were in the military. You know how it works. Choice is not normally an option."

The black man raised his eyebrows at the chilling little smile that went with the comment. "So did you believe in this stuff before this assignment?"

Another shrug. "Never thought about it. Didn't see why it couldn't. Lots of stuff goes on that people don't know about or understand. Doesn't make it any less real." He raised an eyebrow of his own. "What about you? I've heard of you guys of course, but Sabrina's the one who read your dossiers. Maybe Lau, too."

Winston grinned. "I didn't believe; I was looking for a paycheck. I learned real quick how wrong I was. You can't face down a god and not believe."

"Buzz could."

"What?"

Dillinger laughed. "Buzz Buzzard. Our resident skeptic. What we call a nega-psychic. You'd have to get Sabrina to explain the exacts of it, but in general he's convinced that all this stuff is done with mirrors and guys in rubber suits."

"Hasn't been with you long, has he? Or he hasn't seen anything major."

"Oh, he was assigned to our team about three months after it was formed. And trust me when I say he's seen something major. We all have, repeatedly."

The black man blinked. "And I thought Pete was stubborn."

"You haven't met the rest of the team."

Winston just shook his head as the two of them continued their trek around the large building.

* * *

"So, Spengs, got any miracles for us yet?"

"No, Peter. I do believe the secondary manifestations have not yet occurred however. Winston was correct in suggesting we return to take readings."

"I liked the idea myself," Lau added. "Good man to have on the team."

Peter narrowed his eyes as he watched the Chinese man. The three of them were examining the perimeter of the blast radius with the equipment they were carrying. "Something wrong there, Lau?" he asked nonchalantly. "You seem a bit stiff."

Hazel eyes flashed over at the psychologist before returning to the screen of the device he held. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're the only member of the team that wasn't here for that showdown with Spiritech. Does that bother you?"

"Should it?"

"Maybe."

"Why would it?"

"I can think of a few reasons. You're the only one that can tell me _your_ reasons." The brown-haired man shrugged. "You don't have to, though. We _do_ have another job to do."

Egon smothered a smile as he listened to the exchange. His best friend was at it again, doing what he did best, knowing when to push and when to back off to help someone who needed it. The physicist had noticed the stiffness in the third member of their trio as well, but hadn't been able to think of a reason for it.

It was harder for the blond to keep his composure when he overheard the Chinese man's grumbling under his breath. "Damn it, what is it with me and overly-observant psychologists? That's the reason I paired Sabrina off with Ray." In a more normal tone of voice, Lau sighed and said, "I'm not actually sure why it bothers me so much. It shouldn't. There's lots of things Sabrina and Dillinger did together before I was assigned as their field commander."

Peter smiled. "But none of it ever backlashed on you like this."

Lau shook his head. "No, not like this. We had to deal with Vega later, of course. And like Dillinger said, he killed the bastard. He was done, gone, out of our lives."

"And now something else from that original incident is coming back to haunt you, no pun intended." Peter's smile belied that remark.

There was a minute of silence as Lau considered how to say what he wanted to say. "I just heard that story for the first time on the flight out here," he said slowly. "I mean in complete detail. I'd been briefed - and that's an utterly accurate description - when we were facing down Vega, but I had no idea what had happened here beyond what was in the reports. I'm their commander. I should have known. Then again, it happened before I was assigned to them. It didn't have any direct bearing on anything I was involved in. And I was briefed on what I _did_ need to know."

"You can't know everything about your teammates," Egon said sympathetically. "Even when you're their leader."

"I know. And I feel childish for wanting it to be different. But it's more than just hurt feelings. I'm just not sure exactly what."

"Because you weren't here originally, you're not sure what to expect from whoever or whatever is behind all this," Peter explained. "Like you said, you're their commander. You're in charge of their safety. I don't think you feel like you can do your job without all the facts, without being able to anticipate the bad guy's next move." The psychologist smiled. "You need to cut yourself some slack, Lau. The fact is they _were_ here. They obviously know how to take care of themselves. And if anyone's going to be able to add those two things up and come up with a winning combination, it'll be Sabrina and Dillinger. Hey, if we're lucky, they'll even bring us along for the ride."

The commander returned the expression. "You know, you're almost as good as Sabrina." He laughed at Peter's offended countenance. "Hey, she knows me better. I bet you'd have her beat dealing with the other Ghostbusters."

Before Peter could respond, all seven detection devices began beeping and flashing. In the center of the explosion, right where Sabrina and Ray were standing, a phantom black van began to form, and another indistinct vehicle almost perpendicular in front of it. The two doctors jumped out of the way of the vision as Winston and Dillinger came running around the corner and across the lawn of the library, the latter with his handgun drawn. They all felt a chilling presence, causing shivers to crawl up and down their spines. Lights shot out from the second vehicle to impact with the front of the van in a very familiar pattern.

"Proton beams!" Ray cried.

"Particle weapons!" Sabrina and Lau chimed.

"Tell me I get to kill something," Winston heard Dillinger mutter as they got closer.

The scene continued, like a flashback for two of them, until it started to reach a blinding finale. "Hey, wait a minute," the only woman in the bunch protested, "they never fired on the van that long!" That's when the ghostly image exploded.

"Dillinger..." a sinister whisper echoed. Peter looked around sharply for the source, but the only other person who appeared to have even heard it was Sabrina, who had stiffened and turned her gaze quickly to her gun-toting teammate.

And then the shock wave hit.

* * *

"Well, I suppose something good came out of all this," Winston said as he adjusted the ice pack that rested on his right shoulder. "We finally got some definite readings."

"That's quite true, and with study they should prove to be enlightening," Egon replied, attempting to adjust the patch of gauze that covered a slight cut on his forehead.

"Leave it alone, Spengs," Peter growled at him, pulling at the Ace bandage on his left wrist. "You've been picking at it since we left the emergency room."

"Before, actually," Lau corrected, discreetly scratching at his own patch on his neck. "Since the doctor put it on."

"Are you sure she'll be okay?" Ray asked from where he knelt next to Sabrina. The woman was stretched out on the couch on the second floor sleeping, a large piece of gauze covering her right cheek and a brace on her right wrist. Ray's only bandage came in the form of the ring and pinky fingers of his left hand being taped together. The doctors suspected they were only sprained.

"She's lived through lots worse than this," Dillinger said quietly from the other side of the couch. He had somehow come out of the experience untouched.

"Is something wrong, Peter?" Egon asked, concerned, as the younger man pinched the bridge of his nose. That had been an overly-familiar gesture for him all afternoon. "You've been out of sorts since we left for the hospital, and you appear to have a headache."

"I don't know what the problem is," he snapped. "Ever since I heard that voice at the library, it's like a marching band has taken up residence in my head. Believe me, it isn't fun."

"What voice?" Ray asked. "I never heard anything."

"What are you talking about? There was this wicked voice that whispered 'Dillinger' right before we got hit with the aftermath of the explosion. I know I'm not the only one who heard it. Sabrina did, too. That's why she took the digger into the dirt. She had turned around to look at Dillinger."

"Unfortunately, I have to agree with Ray. I didn't hear anything either," Lau said. He wore a thoughtful expression. "But I don't think that means you _didn't_ hear it, Peter."

"What are you thinking?" Dillinger asked, a suspicious look on his face.

"Have any of you shown any inclination toward psychic abilities?" the Chinese man asked, ignoring the question put to him.

The Ghostbusters shared a confused look. "Well, yeah," Ray answered. "Minor ones, like being able to tell when the phone is going to ring, and bad feelings about bad busts, things like that. We theorize that our repeated exposure to ghosts and PK energy has increased our sensitivity."

"Are any of you more sensitive than the others?"

"Lau, you aren't thinking... Are you serious?" The man in the black trenchcoat stared at his commander incredulously.

"I always thought Peter was a bit more sensitive to such phenomena, although he repeatedly denies such claims," Egon responded. "Are you suggesting that Peter's sensitivity allowed him to pick up a psychic message that the rest of us would be unable to receive?"

"And how does that explain Sabrina?" Winston added.

Lau shared a look with the sniper before answering. "I really shouldn't say. That's Sabrina's prerogative, and I won't betray her trust."

"Fair enough, but what about Peter?" Winston continued.

"I think Egon might be right," Lau said. "I can't be sure, though. The heightened sensitivity makes it quite likely."

"Fine, fine, fine," Peter grumbled. "But how do you explain the rush hour traffic in my head?"

"Psychic overload," a soft whisper from the couch responded. "You're not used to picking up such faint things, so the normal things you're used to are like bullhorns next to your ears. Give it a while longer and you'll be fine." Sapphire blue eyes fluttered open and Sabrina looked over at where Peter perched on the arm of the couch at her feet.

"Thank goodness you're all right," Ray said with a smile. "I was worried about you."

"I told you she's survived worse," Dillinger said calmly, one corner of his mouth twitching upward.

She looked up at him quickly. "Yeah, you at four o'clock in the morning after a session in the basement." Her eyes glittered with familiarity with the routine.

"Or better yet, Colonel Taylor after dealing with Dillinger at four o'clock in the morning after we had a session in the basement," Lau added with a relieved smile.

"Good point."

"Did you say the voice said 'Dillinger'?" Ray asked Peter.

"Yeah, it did." He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his hands over his face.

"That's what I heard," Sabrina confirmed.

"That suggests that Captain Dillinger is the ultimate target of the source of the disturbance," Egon offered.

Said captain rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Peter asked, cracking one emerald green eye open and peeking out from between his fingers.

"Only if you've decided life isn't worth living anymore."

"Down, Dillinger," Sabrina said calmly. "He's suffering from an overload headache. Cut him some slack."

"What does it all mean then?" Winston asked.

"I'd think it means our culprit is the man Dillinger faced off against while Sabrina chased down the agent with the book. He'd be the most likely to carry a grudge against him," Ray said. "I don't think Hawk would want to go after his teammates, especially when they didn't really have anything to do with his death."

"A logical theory," Egon approved. "Do you have any further information on this man?" he asked the E-Branch team.

"I don't think so," Lau said, then looked at the other two. "What do you guys have?"

"Don't look at me," Sabrina said quickly. "I was busy chasing down the book and dodging bullets."

"I didn't see much of him, and I certainly didn't stop to exchange pleasantries and a recipe or two. No one told me anything afterward, and I was more concerned with getting my remaining team member out of there in as close to one piece as I could." Dillinger scowled.

Lau crossed his arms across his stomach and tapped his foot in thought. "We'll see what we can get back at headquarters and head back to our hotel. We'll come by again in the morning. We can continue the investigation then. Will you be studying those readings tonight?"

"Look out, he's kicked into commander mode," Peter's muffled voice warned tauntingly.

"I was planning on doing so, yes," Egon replied as Ray and Winston grinned at their suffering friend. "We should have some results for you by the time you get back."

Sabrina sat up and reached into an inner pocket of the vest she was wearing. She pulled out a business card and handed it to Ray. "This has my cell number on it. Call if there's an emergency or if another explosion takes place. You're more likely to be contacted first." She smiled. "And if there's anything else you need you can call, too. I don't bite."

"Sabrina..." Lau chastised with a roll of his eyes.

"I know, I know. That number's not for social purposes. And that's not the main reason I gave it to them." She stood and ran a hand through her hair. "But if they just need to talk or something, I can do that, too." She winked at Winston, who was trying not to laugh.

"Let's just go. I want the people at HQ to look at you anyway. That bandage is unsightly."

"Jeez, Lau, when did you join the fashion police?" Sabrina followed her other two teammates toward the stairs to the ground floor. Dillinger stifled a snort of laughter at the comment. She turned back to the Ghostbusters. "We'll see you tomorrow." She waved and disappeared behind the two men.

Peter finally dropped his hands into his lap. "Well, this has been an interesting day." He flinched slightly at the sound of his own voice.

"Is it any better, Peter?" Ray asked gently, moving to sit on the now-open couch.

"Yeah, actually. Sabrina was right - it'll go away with time."

"Do you really think we can trust them?" Winston asked.

"They've done nothing to suggest we shouldn't," Egon refuted. "They were forthcoming with the story of the incident at the library. I admit we don't know everything about them; in fact, I believe they're probably still hiding something important. But all in all I'm willing to accept their assistance in this investigation."

"Not that we could turn it down in any case," Peter drawled. "They're definitely hiding something - that's a given. And you're right about them telling us about Spiritech and the library. What sells that one is they told us _before_ the thing with Dillinger's name came up out there. And Sabrina seems to actually know how to relate to people on a consistent basis. Lau can get overbearing, and I'm not touching Dillinger with a ten-foot pole. But this is all pretty much a moot point. They're coming over tomorrow, and we're all going to work on the case. I say we grab something to eat then let you mad scientists check those readings we got before catching some shut-eye." He sighed and rubbed his forehead for a minute. "I only hope this headache is gone by then, because I have the feeling there's a whole new one waiting for us." They all moved into the kitchen in complete agreement.


	3. Chapter 3

_I'm so grateful for all my readers - I'm glad you guys are liking the story so far! So here's the next chapter - enjoy, and feel free to let me know what you think!_

* * *

Fortunately for Peter, when his eyes finally managed to open the next morning his wish had been granted and his headache was gone entirely. He reveled in the feeling for a little while then turned his head to look around the bunkroom. The others were already up, unsurprisingly, although it was only nine o'clock in the morning. "Figures," he sighed. "It's still early and I'm wide awake."

Finally, the sound of voices coming from the direction of the lab reached his ears, and amongst them he recognized the light laugh of Doctor Sabrina Marconi. He smiled and proceeded to rise and shine.

She was definitely his favorite of the E-Branch team, totally apart from the fact that she was a woman - and a good looking one at that. He didn't normally warm up so quickly to another member of his chosen vocation. He found that other psychologists constantly appeared to be psychoanalyzing everyone they came across, whether they really were or not. And most of them in his experience were.

Sabrina was different. She was reading him, that much he knew, but it honestly felt like she was doing it to get to know him better. Maybe it had something to do with the main aspect of what they both did for a living that made them so different. It seemed like they both tended to use their "people skills" to help their friends deal with totally out of the ordinary things that most people never even had nightmares about in their lifetimes, but of course they dealt with on a regular basis. It was a common ground he wasn't used to having, but found he liked.

He contemplated that all through his quick shower and shave, throwing on a pair of jeans and a green T-shirt before he joined everyone in the lab. It appeared not everyone had arrived yet, or someone had left temporarily. Only Sabrina and Lau were in the other major room on the third floor, along with Ray and Winston.

"Oh, look. Someone decided to rejoin the world of the living," Lau quipped with a smirk.

"Are you sure you're not a stand-up comedian? Oh, wait. You'd have to be funny." Peter rolled his eyes and headed for the beat up old couch. "So where are Spengs and Dillinger?"

"Picking up a part so we can develop the aura photography shots we took of the manifestation yesterday," Ray explained. "Well, the area where it happened at any rate."

"Hey, we got the shots right before everything hit the fan, and even a couple during the beginning, so Egon says," Winston said encouragingly.

"Is the headache gone?" Sabrina asked Peter as she stepped over to where the brown-haired man had flopped onto the sofa.

He smiled at her. "Yeah, it is. Good night's rest must have done the trick."

"You know, I almost couldn't tell when you walked in here. Then I realized that Lau deserved that slam like anything, and I was jealous that you'd gotten to say it and not me."

"Like you don't get numerous chances at that every day," the Chinese man said with a roll of his eyes as Peter laughed.

"So what happened to that patch you were wearing yesterday?" the male psychologist asked the woman standing next to him.

"The people at HQ looked at it and took care of the scrape. Now it's just a little red and raw. Lau's happier, at any rate." She glared at him. "Unsightly," she scoffed.

"Well, it was. And so was the wrist brace." She stuck her tongue out at him.

Just then the doors to the lab opened and Egon and Dillinger came in, the former carrying a small paper bag. "Ah, good, you're up, Peter," Egon said, a twinkle in his eyes.

"Don't bother, Egon. Lau beat you to the slam. He needs to work on his delivery." Peter smiled wickedly. "Although apparently you're doing that today. What's in the bag? The miracle picture maker?"

"No, I installed that before we returned to the third floor. These are a few extra parts we needed for the seismic dimensionograph." He handed the receipt to Peter, anticipation in his expression.

He wasn't disappointed. "Three hundred and what?! Just where do you think we're getting the money for this, Spengs? It's been _slow_ around here, remember? A time when all good little mad scientists stick to their budgets and keep their bookkeepers sane."

Dillinger was fighting a grin. "Take a look at the bottom of that before you completely blow a gasket, Venkman."

"What?" Peter's green eyes fell to the bottom of the document and widened. "Hey, why is this signed James Dillinger? You bought these for E-Branch?"

"Are you sure you're awake, Peter? You're usually quicker than this." The physicist was enjoying himself hugely.

"He hasn't had his coffee yet," Ray said sagely.

"That explains it."

"Are you trying to tell me he bought it for you?"

"Ah, he can be taught. I told you, Raymond, time and patience would be all we needed."

"Take notes, Dillinger. We are in the presence of professionals," Sabrina said to the tall, trenchcoat-wearing man.

"I can see that." He ran his hand over his dark brown, almost black hair, cut short in a tight, military style.

"All right, all right, folks," Lau said, calling the meeting to order. "We have more important things to do here."

"What did you guys manage to find out about our suspect?" Winston asked as he sat down on one of the metal stools in the room.

"From his records his name was Brian Alexander, and he was a CIA agent before Spiritech recruited him," Lau explained. "He was a sharp shooter, nowhere near Dillinger's league, but one of the better ones we had. I suppose that gives him lots of reasons to hold a grudge against us, and Dillinger in particular."

"I'd think so," Peter mused. "But something doesn't quite ring true with that."

"What are you thinking?" Sabrina asked curiously.

"We don't know what kind of briefing Alexander had before he was sent out, but we can't assume he knew he would be going up against Dillinger. And depending on the timing, he might have left before E-Branch was formed. There's still the whole being murdered thing to contend with, and it's still a strong possibility, but I just get a feeling against it." Peter's brows were creased together in thought.

Sabrina dug into a bag she had obviously brought along with her and pulled out a manilla envelope. "His profile," she said shortly as she handed it to Peter. His eyes widened as he took the offered envelope, taking out the contents and beginning to look through the papers.

"What in the world are you doing, Marconi?" Lau asked sharply through clenched teeth.

She raised her eyebrows. "They have clearance. I double checked while I was waiting for the doctors last night. Peter's a psychologist. He'll be better equipped to handle the situation if he knows the background of our suspects."

"Why didn't you clear this with me?"

Now her sapphire blues narrowed. "You were already ready to gag me this morning as of last night. I was supposed to think you'd let me give them any more information? So I talked to Colonel Taylor, and he agreed with me that this was a need to know situation, and they need to know. Come on, Lau. How can they do their jobs if they're relying on us to spoon-feed them information? What happens if something happens to us?"

"Why were you so reluctant to talk yesterday?" the commander asked, obviously not quite ready to give it up yet, although he was beginning to yield.

"Damn it, I nearly died that night! I watched those bastards kill my commander! That's not exactly one of the best memories I could come up with to recall for the world to see, on top of the fact that it was a failed mission. The reluctance was personal, not anything to do with whether I thought the Ghostbusters should know it or not." She pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest, a bright flush in the olive toned skin.

"Fine," Lau snapped. "But next time try me first. I might surprise you."

"Back to the subject at hand," Dillinger said smoothly. "Basically, we found out he was a common thug who may or may not have known who he was going up against. I'm sure he wasn't happy about dying, especially the way he did. Is that enough for this?"

"It could be," Egon said, seeing as Peter had gone back to the papers as soon as the argument ended. "Certainly it's enough for him to come back as a ghost, whether or not he's behind these manifestations. I still lean in that direction, however. It seems the most likely."

"Then how about we run with that until something tells us different? What's next?"

"What kind of results did you come up with when you studied the readings we collected yesterday?" Lau asked, his composure back in place.

"There's a definite Class Four entity involved, but the readings were more like echoes," Ray said seriously. "That suggests something's partially shielding them."

"Making correlations to previous cases where this kind of phenomena has taken place, we discovered a very faint Class Seven signature, unrelated to any we have on file. There's something very powerful behind it all, so we must be careful."

Ray nodded. "I've been doing some research in Tobin's Spirit Guide and a few other books for demons that have that kind of ability. I'm just about finished with a list we can work with."

"If it decides to make an appearance that's what these are for," Dillinger said, shifting his coat back to reveal the walking arsenal he was. "I've taken care of things like that before. This won't be any different."

"You can't kill a demon," Ray protested.

"We've done it. Usually takes enough rounds to drop a small country, but they go down."

Egon, Ray, and Winston shared a skeptical look as Peter raised an eyebrow without taking his attention away from the last of the sheets he'd been given. "The only hypothesis I can come up with is that the entities you've encountered were more corporeal than most, and your show of force is merely driving the demons back to their home plane, damaged certainly, but not dead," Egon said thoughtfully. "They would not be able to return easily, and not for quite a long time, but the only way we have found to be certain to eliminate their threat is to incarcerate them in our containment unit."

It was E-Branch's turn to share a skeptical look. "You're sure about this?" Lau asked.

"Absolutely," Egon said.

"They don't die," Dillinger said questioningly, annoyance in his tone.

"I'm afraid not. But like Egon said, they aren't coming back for a good long time. That's something," Ray told the professional killer cheerfully.

"So what does it mean when we can't even affect the thing with everything we have?" Sabrina asked, a nervous expression twisting her features.

"This should be interesting," Peter muttered as he finished looking over the profile.

"That would be bad," Egon said gravely. "That would be very bad."

The brown-haired psychologist leaned over to Sabrina. "He said that about Gozer, just so you know."

She sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "I didn't need to know that. I didn't. I promise I didn't. I swear on my mother's grave I didn't."

"Well, this should be something we can do something about," Ray said encouragingly. "All the readings we have suggest that. We have the destabilizer to handle the Class Seven if we need it, and the Class Four is definitely within our capabilities. The proton packs should be fine for him."

"Can you train me to use one?" Dillinger asked intensely. "I want in on the capture of this guy, since you say I can't kill him again."

Winston shrugged. "We just might need the extra fire power. I'll take care of that while you guys work out a strategy to call this guy out into the open. Come on, Dillinger. You'll probably enjoy this." The tall, pale-skinned man's only response was an evil smile.

"He's been looking for an excuse to learn how to use one of those for years," Lau said with a roll of his eyes once the doors closed behind the pair.

Sabrina laughed. "You know he'll use his knowledge as an excuse to try to get his hands on a particle weapon when we get back. Since he knows how to use one and all."

"Just chalk it up with his other regularly denied requisition requests." Lau looked at the scientists. "Be glad they don't give him everything he asks for."

"What would he ask for that would be that bad?" Ray asked.

"A nuke for starters," Sabrina said with a snicker. "But the real question is how are we going to get this guy to reveal himself? He's been pretty happy hiding in the shadows up to this point."

"Oh, please tell me with bait," Peter said with a wicked gleam in his eye. "We're gonna use bait, right? Because that means Dillinger would be that bait. The ghost wants Dillinger. He doesn't want _me_. Tell me I'm right."

Sabrina and Lau looked at him strangely while the two Ghostbusters sighed. "It's a possibility, Peter," Egon said resignedly. "And not even a bad idea, although your motives are suspect. We need to look at all of our options before making any final plans."

"Let's chart the pros and cons, everything we got," Lau suggested. "Can we use your chalkboard?"

"Of course." The blond physicist moved over and cleared the black slate. "Why don't we start with Peter's idea and work our way around the room for suggestions? When Winston and Dillinger return they can offer their thoughts as well."

"That works, Egon. Let's do it." Ray grinned and seated himself next to Peter on the couch with an excited bounce.

* * *

An hour and a half later brought no clear solution and three separate dashes downstairs to find out why Janine had screamed. Dillinger grinned wickedly each time, claiming his aim was still the best, no matter what weapon he held. Janine always returned with her claim that his manners were still the worst.

As the five of them tried to get back into the swing of things after the latest episode, the phone rang. They shared a universal look of suspicion, and everyone hoped he or she was wrong. When the alarm went off they knew their wishes hadn't been granted.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs they found a smug looking secretary giving a ticked off sniper a triumphant expression, with Winston behind the pair shaking his head in exasperation. "Lovers' tiff?" Peter suggested with a smirk.

"Don't even go there, Venkman," Dillinger snapped.

"What happened?" Sabrina asked, fighting a smile.

"She knew I was right next to the dang bell when she set it off. Was that completely necessary?"

"Oh, yeah," Janine drawled. "Vitally important to my well-being. I feel better at any rate. The next time you want to practice your sharp shooting with a proton pack, take it outside!"

"She's got you there," Lau said as he placed a restraining hand on his subordinate's shoulder. "Don't taunt the people who are supposed to be helping you. Important lesson."

"What have we got, Janine?" Egon asked as the four Ghostbusters pulled on their boots and jumpsuits.

"It's not another explosion, but the police called to report a phantom black van that keeps popping in and out of existence all over around the library. It's caused three different accidents, and they want you to get down there and take care of it." The redhead handed over the worksheet.

Peter snatched it and sighed. "I guess we didn't have as much time as we thought, huh? Let's move. Maybe we'll get some readings that'll give us a better idea of the big guy behind it all."

"We'll follow in our car," Lau declared firmly. "Use the story we came up with yesterday if there are any questions." He walked purposely over to the black convertible and got in the driver's seat. Sabrina and Dillinger quickly followed as the Ghostbusters suited up and got into Ecto-1, both vehicles taking off soon after.

* * *

When the seven of them arrived on the scene they immediately understood what the police had meant. A translucent black van suddenly appeared directly in front of the convertible, then disappeared and reappeared halfway down the block. Traffic had been redirected around that block, but from the left-behind wrecks it obviously hadn't been done soon enough.

"The readings are fluctuating to such a degree I can't pinpoint a direction or Class," Egon said shortly, his eyes fixed on the screen of the PKE meter he was making continuous adjustments to as he joined the others gathered on the sidewalk next to the cars.

"It's just as much of a mess with the ecto-scopes, too," Ray said, frustrated. "I've tried adjusting them a few different ways, but it's not helping."

Sabrina's eyes widened and she tilted her head and looked up. "Try in that direction," she said, pointing toward the sky.

Both Ray and Egon did as suggested. "It's a little clearer, but I believe I would have to increase my elevation to receive any tangible results."

"Wow," Ray breathed as he made a minute adjustment to one of the dials on the side of his goggles. "It's still muted, but I think the source is there, at least for now. It looks like it's getting ready to move."

"I think it just dropped off the kiddies," Peter said, his eyes wide as he stared at the library building.

"Looks like study buddies time at the library," Winston concurred. "They're going inside!"

Everyone turned to look at what the two men were talking about, and gasped as they saw an increasing number of wispy shades circling the structure and zipping inside one at a time. Every one that entered was replaced by at least two more. "A party at the library and we weren't even invited. Boy, I know a snub when I see one." Sabrina's tense expression belied the sarcastic words.

"We're going to have to go inside. Something's happening in there," Egon said.

"Then let's do it. When we get in we'll have to split up to cover the place quickly, in case it's just a trick." Lau assessed his companions. "Dillinger, you go with Egon. I'll go with Winston and Ray, and Sabrina's with Peter. Let's move."

They moved as directed, splitting up smoothly into their three groups once they entered the building. "Doctor Stantz, what are you doing here? No one called you," a nervous baritone asked from behind the only trio.

Ray sighed and rolled his eyes before turning around to face the source. "Mister Delacourt, we're just following the trail of a group of ghosts the police asked us to investigate. Please don't slow us down."

"I wasn't told of anything of the sort."

"We weren't expecting them to come inside, Mister Delacourt," Winston chimed in. "But since they're connected to the mysterious explosions that have been going on for the last two months around here, I'd think you'd want us to handle this and fast."

The thin man's eyes bugged out a little at that and he started to shake. "Just... don't wreck anything this time, alright?" He turned and walked quickly away without waiting for a response.

"I was afraid I was going to have to flash my badge at him for a second there," Lau said with a smile. "You guys are smooth."

"Practice," Ray said depreciatingly, grinning. "And years of exposure to Doctor Peter Venkman, of course."

"That'll do it to anyone," Winston agreed.

Lau laughed as the three of them continued on their way, following a set of signals Ray managed to pick up on his meter.

* * *

"Are you sure the signal's clear?" Dillinger asked as he and Egon wandered amongst the shelves in the children's section.

"As clear as I can get anything, yes."

"You checked up?"

"Yes." Egon spared a quick look for his companion and took in the coiled spring that was Dillinger at that moment. "We should have plenty of warning before anything occurs," the blond said reassuringly.

"Anything you can detect with the meter," the dark-haired man corrected.

"You do have a point. Do you believe the ghost would recruit living allies to exact its revenge?"

"Anything's possible. And I plan on being ready for anything."

"Do you have your guns with you?"

"Oh, yeah. Never go anywhere without them. And before you ask, specially-lined jacket hides 'em from metal detectors."

The corners of the physicist's mouth twitched upward. "Spy toys?"

That produced a grin on the sniper's face. "Spy toys," he confirmed. A flash out of the corner of his eye captured his attention. "There," he said shortly, gesturing briefly to the right.

Egon aimed the PKE meter in that direction and nodded. "I've got something."

"Let's follow it." The pair did so quickly, leaving the children's area behind in their hunt.

* * *

"Lau's being sneaky again," Sabrina said, her eyes narrowed as Peter grabbed his meter from his belt and activated it.

"What do you mean?" the brown-haired man asked as he checked the readings and led them off to the left.

"Something's bugging him, so he paired off the two people who'd be the most likely to be able to tell. Not that we don't make a good team, but he's a putz."

Peter grinned. "I noticed that yesterday and asked him about it. That's probably what did it."

"That and the fact that I drove the point home that you're a psychologist, too. He prefers to deal with his issues after a mission's over. Says it's distracting in the middle." She shook her head in exasperation.

"Kinda sounds like Winston. I bet Dillinger's the same way."

"No, he's not," Sabrina said sadly. "As weird as it sounds, he doesn't usually have issues. He was trained not to."

"What? That's not possible." Peter stopped walking and stared at her.

The black-haired woman stopped two steps later and faced her companion. "In any other case I'd agree with you, Peter. But Dillinger's so-called upbringing did a number on his psyche. I can't go into it here in public, but trust me when I say that he's been trained to just let go of any issues he may possibly have." She gave Peter a small smile tinged with pain. "I've never met a more frustrating man."

He gave her a sympathetic look, having read more in that look than she might have thought. "I'm sure he is. But we better get back to this. Egon will never let me hear the end of it if he thinks I've been sloughing off."

Sabrina's smile grew larger. "Right. Lau would do the same thing." They continued on.

The two psychologists' path led them to an upper floor, causing the female half of the pair to shake her head ruefully. "You know, this figures. This is where the book was. And where I nailed Vega." She chuckled wickedly. "I love knowing I got at least one good shot in on him."

A breeze started to blow down from a vent in the ceiling making the temperature drop suddenly. "I think they need to work on their air conditioning," Peter complained. "It's early fall, not the middle of July."

"No kidding," Sabrina agreed before jumping back from a flash of white light right next to her at about waist level. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know, but it sure made the meter jump." Peter grabbed the walkie talkie on his belt. "Yo, Spengs, we got a spark in the second floor reference room."

"Are you still getting readings?" the physicist's voice responded.

"Fading."

Sabrina snatched the device away. "Hey, Dillinger, it looked like the effects of a taser. Sound familiar?"

"But it's not supposed to be Vega," her teammate's voice called back. "We were specifically told it probably wasn't Vega." She could practically hear the glare he had to be giving Egon.

"We can't be sure he was alone in here. In fact, he probably wasn't. They somehow knew we were going to be here, so it would only be logical they gave Vega backup. Your man could have been along for that. It wasn't long after he dropped that the shit hit the fan anyway."

Peter grabbed his radio back. "What's next, Egon?"

There was a pause, presumably as Dillinger returned the radio to its rightful owner. "We're tracking down some abnormal readings of our own, but when we're finished we'll meet you there."

"Gotcha, Spengs. See ya... Hold on a sec." The meter Peter held began reacting to something. "We've got some clear Class Four readings, and they're moving. We're going to follow." He looked at Sabrina to double check and she nodded her agreement.

"Understood. Be careful, Peter, Sabrina."

"We heard you, too," Ray's voice chimed in. "Be sure to check in. And like Egon said, be careful."

"I hear you both. We will. Peter out." He replaced the device on his belt and the two of them moved out.

"This is suspicious," Sabrina whispered as they once more wandered through the first floor. "You haven't been able to get a clear reading for two months and suddenly we pick one up distinct enough to follow through a building completely surrounded by ghosts."

"I thought of that, and I'm sure Egon and Ray did, too. Lau and Dillinger seem the types that would pick up on it as well. I'm willing to bet they're all on their way to meet with us as we speak."

"I hope so, because I have a bad feeling about this."

"You, too? Oh, good; I don't feel so alone." He gave her an impish grin that produced one in return.

They were silent for the next five minutes as they followed the muted sounds of the meter. As they started through the horror section, they were accosted by another blast of cold air, making Peter stop in his tracks for a moment. "You okay?" Sabrina asked from behind him. For a moment there was no response, then he nodded briefly and continued on.

The trail began to lead them toward the exit, Peter pausing before every turn, his steps stiff. "Don't worry, Peter," the Italian woman whispered comfortingly. "I'm sure the guys are on the way."

He stopped suddenly and looked over his shoulder at her. She barely kept herself from running into him and somehow managed to retain her balance in the process. "Check those brake lights!" she hissed. She narrowed her eyes at his lack of a response. "Peter? Are you okay?" He merely turned back around and continued on.

Sabrina examined him closely as she followed. From everything she'd experienced, and everything her senses were telling her, only one thing could explain Peter's behavior... They were about to leave the bookshelves and head for the front door when a similar feeling to what she had felt at the firehouse before Slimer made his first appearance washed over her. She looked around desperately for something she could use. She let out a deep breath as her eyes fell on a good possibility, and her hand snapped out and knocked one of the books to the floor. She quickly grabbed one of her business cards and placed it directly beneath the title, then hurried to catch up with Peter, who hadn't even flinched at the noise. They went out the front door, Sabrina's senses still tingling, and then she felt a blow to the head and nothing.

* * *

The other two teams met up outside the second floor reference room as Peter and Sabrina reached the horror section. "Did either of you see our two errant psychologists?" Lau asked as the fivesome gathered inside the room and shut the door.

"No, and Peter hasn't checked in to tell us where they're going," Egon said matter-of-factly, only his pale blue eyes revealing the worry he was feeling.

"Well, they are in a library," Ray excused them. "It's supposed to be quiet."

"Where do you think that flash took place?" Lau asked.

"My guess is right about here," Dillinger said, standing exactly where the incident had happened as Egon scanned the room with the PKE meter.

"He's right," the physicist confirmed. "That's where the highest levels of energy are concentrated."

"How did you know?" Ray asked.

"I remembered," was Dillenger's short reply.

"That's right," Winston said. "She said it looked like the flash from a taser. That's where she dropped Vega, huh?" Dillinger nodded.

"What in the world?" Egon muttered, his eyes still on the screen of his meter.

"What is it?" Lau asked sharply.

"Ever since the spirits began surrounding the building there's been a general overlay that dampened all our readings. It's no longer present." The blond's voice and expression were completely serious, his body tense.

"What does that mean?" the Chinese man asked, worry touching the edges of his tone.

"It means we better check what's happening outside," Ray responded quickly, leading the way to the door and the stairs beyond. The others hurried to follow.

Things were as they expected when the group dashed out the front doors and onto the lawn. There was no sign of the mass of swirling spirits or the evil presence above them, and no sign of Sabrina and Peter. "Come in, Peter," Ray called on his radio. "We lost the ghosts. Where are you?" He paused, but there was no response.

"Come on, man, this isn't funny," Winston said into his own device. "Tell us where you are so we can find you." Again, no response.

Lau and Dillinger shared a concerned look as Egon made some hasty adjustments to the PKE meter. It reacted slightly when he walked closer to the entrance. "I've got Peter's biorhythms, but they're muted residuals."

"So he was outside. Since he's not responding and we don't see him, I'm thinking something bad happened. Probably to Sabrina, too, since she wouldn't abandon him." Lau's brows creased in intense thought.

The remaining Ghostbusters looked shocked. "Maybe... maybe they doubled back," Ray suggested desperately. "Let's follow the signal back inside."

Egon led the way, his long-legged stride keeping him in front of the group. "The signature is still muted," he said tersely.

"That's bad, isn't it?" Winston asked nervously.

"How bad is bad?" Dillinger asked coldly.

The blond man hesitated before answering. "I have a theory, but I don't want to say anything until I have more information."

The five of them turned the corner into the shelves that held the library's horror fiction, and Egon nearly tripped over the book on the floor in the middle of the aisle. "What's that?" Ray asked as his friend knelt down to examine it.

"A book, with one of Sabrina's business cards on it beneath the title. Hmm..." Egon brought his hand to his chin in thought as he considered this latest turn of events.

"The Exorcist," Winston read from over the kneeling man's shoulder. "Why would she leave that?"

"It's a clue," Lau said confidently. "She wanted to let us know what was going on, since she knew we were on our way to meet them."

"Okay, so what's she saying?" Dillinger asked.

"The story's about a priest who tries to do an exorcism to get rid of the devil from a young girl," Ray said thoughtfully, his brain obviously working quickly. "Oh, no!" he cried, everything clicking. "Egon, you don't think..."

"Unfortunately, yes," the physicist said darkly, obviously having come to the same conclusion. "This just confirms the muted readings we've been getting."

"Peter's possessed?" Winston asked, his tone that of one who already knows the answer to his own question. "Damn, this just got ten times worse!"

"What surprises me is that Sabrina recognized it without the benefit of a meter," Egon said as he replaced the book and pocketed the card.

Lau and Dillinger had been sharing a horrified look. "Oh, trust me, she'd know," Lau said, disbelief at the turn of events in his voice. "She's a sensitive."

"Out of everybody, I think only Vrice and Cross could match her for that one," Dillinger agreed. "Oh, and Jackson." Lau nodded.

"A sensitive?" Ray repeated, eyes widening in realization. "That explains the readings we got from her right before we met you!"

"We can discuss that later. For now we should get back to your headquarters and do some rethinking. This is going to require a whole new plan." The E-Branch commander led the others to the vehicles waiting on the street outside.


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm so happy I have some great readers! Thanks for sticking with me! Here's the next chapter - enjoy, and feel free to tell me what you think!_

_Trigger Warnings: Discussion of rape (not graphic)_

* * *

Peter Venkman leaned back against the wall of his cell and stared up at the ceiling, thoroughly disgusted with himself. He remembered flashes of what had happened at the library, mostly his desperate struggle to regain control of himself after the second cold blast heralded a ghost that had decided to take up residence inside his head. He almost had it when Sabrina had mentioned the guys were on their way to meet them, but again he lost the battle. "I hate being the host with the most," he complained in a barely audible mutter.

Now he was sitting in a cell somewhere, wrists and ankles shackled, with Doctor Sabrina Marconi lying unconscious across the room from him. She was similarly bound, and hadn't made a noise since she had been brought in minutes after the ghost that had brought him here had vacated the premises, leaving Peter with his arms and legs out as though they had been offered up for the metal restraints. He could see she was still breathing, the only good thing in the whole situation.

Remembering the library brought up another concern. Did the guys realize what had happened? Did they know he and Sabrina had been taken? What about Sabrina's teammates? Were they all just sitting ducks for whoever was behind all this?

Peter shuddered at the thought. There was nothing he could do for his friends, and nothing made him feel more helpless. And he hated feeling helpless. _Be all right, guys_, he thought to his absent friends. _Please be all right._

Five minutes later, a groan caught his attention, and Peter looked over to the occupied cot. Sabrina rolled over and attempted to bring a hand up to her head, her eyes springing open when she felt the wrist restraints. Her sapphire blues cleared quickly and examined the room, finally focusing on Peter and watching him warily.

It hurt to see that look on her face - if only he could remember if _he_ had been the one to hit her! - but he knew he couldn't blame her. The last thing he remembered before his inner struggle was forced to the back of his mind was looking at her over his shoulder and seeing the beginnings of realization in her expression. She had known. She had known and had still stuck with him. She had every right to be suspicious of him.

Peter found himself speechless, unable to even offer an apology, worthless though it would have been. But then her face cleared and she smiled. "Well, we're in quite the fix, aren't we, Peter?"

He looked at her confused. "How can you be so sure I'm Peter? I wasn't when you were knocked out."

Sabrina took a deep breath and released it ruefully. "I think I need to tell you a little bit more about myself to explain that."

"What?"

She struggled to sit up, then leaned back against the wall with a wince. "Head injuries suck." She took a few deep breaths and refocused on the man across the room from her. She thought for a moment then rose to her feet and shuffled over to the bench on the wall between them across from the door. "You didn't hit me by the way."

He blinked. "How'd you know I was worried about that?"

"You look guilty as hell every time I flinch or wince. You might as well be wearing a blinking neon sign." She smiled. "There's no way you could have hit me. I was following you out the front door when the blow came from behind me."

Peter gave her an appraising look then let his expression lighten into a small smile. "That's a relief. I wouldn't want to hurt you."

"I wouldn't want you to either." She sighed. "But I should explain myself. I know you've studied psychic phenomena; I've read some of your papers on the subject. Quite good, really. Well, the reason I was tapped by E-Branch was I have psychic abilities. I'm what they call a psychic sensitive."

Peter's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Psychic abilities?"

"Yeah. That's how I knew something was going to happen when Slimer came out to greet you guys when we were going up to the lab. It's why I froze. I knew something bad was going to happen. I also have the talents of empathy and telepathy." Sabrina bit her lip and waited for the negative reaction she was sure to get.

Her companion tensed and gave her a thorough once-over, making her feel like a bug under a microscope, but she refused to be offended. She'd read Peter's profile; she knew how suspicious he could be. And she had offered herself up for it. She had no one to blame but herself. "Telepathy?" he finally asked coldly, his eyes two shards of emerald green ice. "You're joking, right?"

Whatever response she had been expecting, skepticism wasn't it. "No, I'm not joking. I can really do that. There's a few other things I didn't mention I can do, too."

"Prove it. Tell me what I'm thinking."

"That's not much of a test at the moment. I have a doctorate in psychology. You know as well as I do that gives you training in how to read people."

"Then think of something to prove it."

She blinked. "Um, okay..." She racked her brain, completely thrown by where the conversation had gone. "Think of something there's no way I could know, not even if I had access to the government's computers, which I do." She gave him a weak smile.

It wasn't returned. "Done. Read me."

Sabrina took a deep breath. "Keep it in the front of your thoughts." She closed her eyes and concentrated. "You didn't!" she finally cried, her eyes springing open.

"I didn't what?" Peter's voice was still cold.

"I watched you take the answer sheet for a... biology final and slip it from Ray's backpack to a woman's bag. And you were thinking that she was the girlfriend of the guy who originally stole it and tried to frame Ray." She shrugged. "You think visually, so I pick it up visually." She tilted her head to the side. "How did it turn out?"

Peter didn't respond. He just continued to look at her, still evaluating. "So how long have you been reading everyone's minds?" he asked finally.

Sabrina let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding. "To be honest, that was the first time I've done it since I met you. It's just a bit violating, don't you think?"

"How can I believe you?"

"I don't think there's anything I could say or do to prove I'm telling the truth, Peter. But I will say that I never had any reason to use my abilities like that. You've always been completely cooperative. And I'm confident enough in my training to rely on it first when I'm dealing with people."

"Are you saying that you would have used telepathy on us if we'd told you to get bent when you came to us about this case?"

"Well, we would have given you another try or two, but probably. This case is too important to us to let much stand in our way. Innocent people were in danger of getting hurt, and there was always the threat of exposure for E-Branch. I don't like to do it without permission, Doctor Venkman, but I will if it becomes necessary." Her expression was firm, although she was thoroughly scared she was about to lose Peter's trust.

"Why didn't you know how that scenario turned out? The information's there." The dark cloud began to lift from the brown-haired man's features.

"I can only read surface thoughts. If I'd wanted to get information from you, we would have had to ask you leading questions and I would have picked up the correct answers that way. I couldn't just root around and pick out what I needed." The Italian woman started to relax with the lightening of Peter's attitude.

"Sneaky." He gave her one last look. "The jerk got expelled. He was forced to come clean or the girlfriend would have taken the fall for him, and he actually cared about her. Too bad she didn't feel the same way. She dumped him a year later when his parents cut him off."

"Huh?" Sabrina asked, thrown for a loop by the change in subject.

"That's how the whole answer sheet thing turned out. You asked." Peter smiled.

"Oh." She tentatively returned the expression. "So, you still trust me?"

"Yeah. You figured out I'd been possessed and stuck with me, even when it would have been safer to take off and find the others. I'd have to be a real jerk to reject you for something you can't help having and try to use responsibly. I'm probably going to be wary around you for a while, but I think that'll pass."

"I hope so, Peter. I like you, and I don't want to lose the chance to be your friend."

"You realize you won your own case without even trying, don't you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"When you asked me how everything turned out. If you'd been lying to me about how you used your abilities, you would have known. I was thinking about the entire story ever since you said you had telepathy, except when you closed your eyes."

She blinked. "Oh."

In the next moment, Sabrina stiffened, and a rattling came from the door of their cell. The psychologists shared a nervous, fear-filled look as it slowly began to open.

* * *

"This is crazy!" Lau exploded as he paced across floor of the third floor lab for the zillionth time since they returned from the library.

"Crazy or not, this is the reality," Egon said emphatically, standing next to the recently cleared chalkboard. While the two E-Branch members couldn't see it, Winston and Ray were quite aware of the tight control the physicist was exerting over his fear for Peter. "It appears our enemy has captured our teammates."

"What are we going to do about it?" Winston asked, once again perched on a metal stool.

"Would this fit the profile of the man we suspect is behind all this?" Ray asked the two remaining E-Branch members, his eyes reflecting his own troubled state.

"Thugs don't tend to think that way, but Sabrina's the one who knew the profile," Dillinger said.

"But didn't she..." Winston began as he looked around the room. "Yes! I was right!" He crossed over to the couch where the bag Sabrina had brought with her that morning lay leaning against the grey piece of furniture. He leafed through a few files and drew out the correct one. "Here's our man, Brian Alexander."

Lau snatched it out of the black man's hand and began to scan through it. He stopped in his tracks and his shoulders drooped. "Damn it, I'm no psychologist. I'm reading the words but I'm not completely getting the message. And they took the only two people who would!"

Egon calmly walked over and took the file. "From what I can gather," he said after a few moments of perusal, "is that, unless the man was ordered to do this, he probably wouldn't. He showed a distinct lack of initiative during his career with the CIA."

"How in the world did you get that?" the Chinese man asked, his expression slack-jawed.

"I went to college with Peter, Mister Long. I often helped him study. I happened to pick up a few rudimentary facts of psychology in the process. Besides," the physicist continued with a small, tight smile, "that fact was plainly stated. The rest of my conclusion was a logical extension of that."

Lau scowled. "Show off," he muttered.

"Calm down, Lau," Dillinger said with a roll of his eyes. "It seems to me that Sabrina and Peter would be the most useful to whoever took them as hostages. He wants me. He's probably going to use them to draw me out in a situation most favorable to him."

Egon and Ray shared a quick look. "What can you tell us about Vincent Vega?" Ray asked.

"You said it wasn't him," the sniper said quickly.

"What happened to Peter and Sabrina changes everything," Egon explained. "From all the evidence we've gathered over the last two months and the background information you've given us, this looks like an elaborate scheme to bring you here specifically for an undetermined reason."

"Probably to kill me. It's what he's wanted to do with me ever since... well, that's what he's always wanted to do." Dillinger crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall next the lab doors.

"We're not getting any more than that, are we?" Winston asked, leaning against the side of the sofa with his arms crossed, his eyes narrowed as he tried to judge whether the concealed information would really help them find Peter and Sabrina.

"I wouldn't count on it," was the wry response.

"Come on, Dillinger, spill it all. They might need to know if they're going to help us catch him and get Sabrina back," Lau said irritably. "And Dr. Venkman."

The dark-haired man glared at his commander. "We came from the same project. He went bad. He never liked me much, and I was the one who finally managed to kill him. And then I managed to vaporize his body before he could be brought back. That good enough?"

Lau sighed. "Yeah, fine."

"Alright, so how do we draw Vega out?" Ray asked, deliberately changing the subject and sparking a discussion that lasted until suppertime. A spark of his usual enthusiasm had returned to his voice. They'd find Peter and Sabrina and get them back. They just had to.

* * *

"You _are_ a pretty one," the translucent minion said leeringly as it leaned in close to Sabrina's face. She was pressed up as far against the wall as she could get.

"And you aren't," Peter retorted, hoping to get some of the thing's attention off of the woman. If this creature had been human at one time, it certainly hadn't been attractive.

The ghost merely turned its head in the man's direction. "And you would be a wonderful choice for a vessel," it hissed, not taking offense at Peter's comment. "With you I could have real fun with her."

Peter and Sabrina shared a significant look at that. "Well," the Italian said slowly, panic beginning to blossom in the back of her eyes, "it won't be much fun if we're restrained like this, now will it?"

"I mean, hey, I work best when I have full range of motion," the brown-haired man agreed.

"You would be willing?" the spirit asked, shocked. "You would let me do this?"

"It's not like we have a lot of choice," Peter said with a shrug. "Maybe it'll go faster and painlessly if we just let it happen."

"We don't want to get hurt here," Sabrina added, her body tensing and beginning to shake.

Her companion noticed the reaction but couldn't say anything. "Will you promise to let me be gentle with her?" he asked.

"For a while at least," it agreed. "But you are right. If you are willing, it would be better not to have shackles. More fun." The thing flew over to Peter and released the metal clasps around his ankles then did the same for Sabrina.

The Ghostbuster couldn't seem to catch his partner in captivity's eye as he kept the still-open door to their cell in the corner of his vision. "That's better already," he commented.

"Now I will do your wrists, but I think I will leave hers. I like that."

"That's fine," Sabrina said, shifting her legs beneath her. She sprang to her feet and started to run, Peter just a beat behind her. "My friends will take care of them for me!"

They had barely reached the hallway beyond the cell when an irresistible gust of wind blew them back inside and slammed them against the far wall. The pair slid down the cold grey stone and they slumped in two piles on the floor. "Oh, no, not yet, Doctor Marconi, Doctor Venkman," the soft voice from the library said in an evil whisper. "I'm not through with you yet. Not by a long shot." It was the last thing either of them heard before they gave in to the wave of unconsciousness that washed over them.

* * *

Dinner was a silent affair at Ghostbuster Central that evening. The five of them had not been able to come up with anything concrete for either a plan of attack or what to expect for a next move. The only thing they were sure of was that the main source of their problem was most likely Vincent Vega, a fact that made Dillinger in particular less than happy.

"Do you think Vega will be feeding them?" Ray asked, frowning sadly, as he picked at his carton of Chinese take-out.

"Depends on if they're conscious or not," Dillinger replied. "If he's using them as hostages he needs them alive, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have to be awake." His hands clenched into fists. "Just how many times do I have to deal with this prick?" he snapped for the third time that day. "I guess I always thought when you put a bullet through someone's brain it meant that was the last time you had to worry about them. It's always worked before."

Janine came up to the second floor as they were finishing cleaning up the kitchen table. "I just closed up downstairs. Have you guys come up with anything?"

"Not a thing," Winston said, frustrated. "We had the wrong man pegged to begin with, and that might have led to this."

"We can't be sure of that, Winston," Egon said quickly, trying to cut off any undue guilt trips. "This was obviously all set up ahead of time, including our involvement I'm sure. It seems Vincent Vega has done his research on all of us. It would explain why we weren't able to get any clear readings until Lau and his team arrived."

"He _wants_ us to find him," Ray breathed in realization. "He _needs_ us to find him, so he can do whatever he's planning to do to Dillinger."

"But what's he going to do with Peter and Sabrina in the meantime?" Janine asked, having been filled in as to their disappearance when the others returned. "Does it really matter to him if they're alive or dead?"

"He probably wants to get Sabrina, too," Dillinger said emotionlessly. "Not as badly as me, but she did take him down, however temporarily. And I'm sure he wants us both to suffer for a while."

"But what about Peter? What would he want with him?" Winston asked.

"For one it would insure her good behavior," Lau said, subdued. "Vega has to know that she won't endanger an innocent." He took in the looks of disbelief from the rest of the room. "Well, you know what I mean. She'll do what she can to protect him, and if that means being a good little girl, she'll do it. She's the heart of our team."

"I suppose someone has to have one," Dillinger muttered.

"I believe we should return to the site of the explosion," Egon suggested. "If Ray's theory is correct and Vega does want us to find him, we should be able to pick up some distinctive readings that will help us prepare for the inevitable confrontation, as that is where Vega first made contact."

"That sounds good, Egon," Lau agreed. "Why don't we do that now?"

"I'll come with you," Janine insisted stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"We could use the extra hands. Come along, Janine. You can ride with us in Ecto-1," Egon agreed before Lau or Dillinger could object, knowing by her posture and tone of voice she wouldn't take no for an answer. Peter was in danger, and as much as she verbally sparred with him, he was still like her older brother, and nobody messed with her brother but her.

The two E-Branch agents shared a quick look then followed the Ghostbusters and their secretary down the stairs and out to the explosion site.

* * *

It took about five minutes for Sabrina's equilibrium to come back when her eyes finally opened hours later. She blinked and tried to bring her hands to her face to rub them over it, but jumped slightly when she found they were attached to the wall above her by the chain that connected the shackles. She finally looked around, noticing that she was on the bench across from the door to the cell and Peter was on the bench he had been seated on originally, still out cold. She bit her lip and tried to guess how bad he had been hurt from where she was.

It was soon academic as a groan issued from the prone man and he started to shift in his seat. "Anyone get the license plate of that truck?" Peter asked shakily before his emerald green eyes fluttered open and his head lolled to the left. He caught sight of the nervous-looking Sabrina and creased his brows in confusion. She watched as the memories came flooding back and his features cleared.

"I missed the truck," she said ruefully. "But whoever it was drives worse than I ever did."

"I hear that." He paused as Sabrina chuckled to herself. "What? What's so funny?"

"I just learned to drive maybe two years ago."

Peter blinked. "And how old are you?"

"Are you seriously asking a woman her age?" Sabrina asked with an amused smile.

"Fine, fine. Sorry." Peter rolled his eyes and gave a tiny chuckle.

"No, don't apologize. It's not really a big deal. Anyway, I grew up in Chicago. Who needs to drive when there's a decent transit system and bicycles? Besides, my dad never had the money for any kind of car."

"What about when you got out of college? People with our kind of training can make a lot of cash, especially a prodigy like you had to have been."

"E-Branch tapped me right after I got my doctorate. And then it was a moot point. Everyone else could drive, and we usually only needed one or two drivers. But I was still a liability since I could never go solo, in case driving would become necessary. So I pressed the issue and got my license. Well, learned how to do it at any rate. I always had my license once I joined E-Branch."

"You've had one eventful life, Sabrina." He gave a short chuckle then sighed. "Tell me, does your head pound as much as mine does right now?" Peter winced and squeezed his eyes shut, shifting his legs more under the bench. "What the...?" he asked surprised, his eyes popping back open. "Where are my boots and socks?"

Sabrina crossed her left leg over the right as she wiggled her uncovered toes. "Standard procedure. Captives are less likely to go very far with bare feet. Most people aren't used to running around without protection over the sensitive skin of their soles."

"Cute."

"By the way, in answer to your question? Yes, as a matter of fact it does. That could not have been good for me since I'd already gotten banged over the head once today, assuming it's still today." She sighed. "But we had to try. I'm sure we're going to be used as bait to bring Dillinger out. I'd like to avoid that if at all possible."

"I can understand that. I've never liked playing the bait. Aside from the obvious, are you all right? You were starting to freak out a bit when that ghost was talking about... well, using us for some extracurricular activities. Something happen to you in the past?"

Sabrina turned away quickly, tears building in her sapphire blues. "Kind of."

"What do you mean kind of? Either it happened or it didn't, right?" Peter caught himself and shook his head. "But I don't mean to push. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I know this can be really sticky to deal with." He watched his companion sympathetically.

"I wasn't raped," she said quietly. "It was my sister Tabitha. She's three years older than me, and when she was fifteen she got asked to the prom by the captain of the football team, a senior who was really popular." She paused and caught her breath. "God, this is so cliche."

"That's okay. Keep going," Peter encouraged.

Sabrina nodded. "Well, you know the stereotypical prom night activity for a guy and his date. Shane decided that's what he wanted to do when they left the school, and Tabitha decided she wanted nothing to do with it. She wanted to wait until they'd been dating a while, until they knew each other better. I mean, she was attracted to him, no doubt about it, but still..." The black-haired woman sighed. "I'm rambling. The point is Shane forced the night to go his way, and Tabitha paid the price. And after he was done with her he told her she better not tell anyone about it and made her walk home."

"The bastard," Peter hissed. "What happened next?"

"She accidentally woke me up when she got in at about three in the morning as she limped down the hall to her bedroom. I got up and saw her torn dress and my jaw just hit the floor. I was about to ask her what had happened when she turned and made direct eye contact with me. Suddenly my mind was overwhelmed with images of what he had done to her and how she felt when it happened. I guess I collapsed to the floor in a heap, those images all I could see and hear. Tabby managed to get me into bed and changed her clothes before she got my father. No one knew what was wrong with me. I was muttering complete nonsense, thrashing about and pushing away at something that wasn't there.

"But Tabby knew. She somehow guessed what I was seeing, what I was experiencing over and over in my head. It was just the ultimate capper to what happened at school that next Monday. Turns out that Shane told his buddies about what had happened, and they all came up to her throughout the day and let her know that they wanted their turns with her, since Shane assured them she was well worth it. That did it for her. I was still out of it, and she felt trapped, like she couldn't tell and if she stayed I'd never get better. She ran away that night, disappeared off the face of the planet for all my dad or I knew." Sabrina finally turned her head back to face Peter, revealing tears that were flowing freely down her cheeks. "That was how my psychic powers awakened, and they drove my sister away. We were so close, and it broke my heart."

"It's not your fault, you know," the brown-haired man said reassuringly in a soft voice. "There's nothing you could have done to stop your reaction."

She nodded. "I know that now. It took a long time to realize that, but I do know."

"Did you ever find your sister? Being in the CIA must have helped that, right?"

Now Sabrina gave him a small smile. "Yeah, it did. I found her. She was living in L.A. That's where she still is as far as I know. We keep in contact as much as we can, but sometimes my job keeps me out of touch for long stretches. I got a hold of her about a year after I joined E-Branch and we both finally resolved a truckload of guilt. Seems she was feeling it over making me go through that. My dad was so happy to hear from her again. She explained what had happened and he instantly forgave her. She really needed that. It's why she'd stayed away so long. She was afraid she'd hurt us both too much for us to be able to forgive her."

"What about your mom? What happened to her?"

"She died when I was eight. Lymphatic cancer. I'm just glad she never had to go through all that stuff with Tabby and me on top of everything else."

"You're a strong woman, Sabrina. Your mom would be proud of you."

Her face crumpled a bit. "I can still see it, Peter. Rarely and in flashes, but every now and again I go through prom night for my sister all over again. It's why rape and rape victims were an area of special study for me for a while. I wanted to be able to help other people who had gone through that."

Peter's green eyes flashed. "It was covered in some of my courses, but it's been a while. I've never really had to use the knowledge much though."

"Much?" Sabrina asked, quickly regaining her composure. "What do you mean?"

"Well..." the man started, realizing he was caught, but unwilling to continue.

She looked her companion over carefully. "Are you talking about the aftermath of possession?" she asked gently. "I can see how that would be similar."

"You've already dealt with enough. You don't have to deal with me," Peter said quickly.

"Peter, you're my friend. I know I don't _have_ to, but I _want_ to. Maybe talking it out will help."

"I... I usually just talk it over with Egon," he said reluctantly.

"Usually? How often does this happen?" Sabrina looked at him shocked.

"Often enough. Ghosts just seem to like using me that way. What can I say? I'm a popular guy." Peter forced a cocky grin.

Blue eyes narrowed. "You went through it twice today. Once for real, and once as a threat. And Egon is nowhere near here as far as we know. Are you sure you don't want to talk to me? It's not like we don't have time."

His shuttered gaze captured hers. "I'm sure, Sabrina. And even if I were willing, I wouldn't know how to start. Spengs just always knows what to say to help me get it off my chest. I'm sorry."

She bit her lower lip for a moment then straightened as she took a deep, stabilizing breath. "You wouldn't actually have to talk. You could just think, and I'd do the rest."

"Sabrina, no," Peter replied, reluctance and apology mixed relatively evenly in his tone. "I don't want to make you go through that. And then there's the fact that I'd have a problem letting you tiptoe through my brain matter, no matter how much I like you." His expression was somewhat guarded as his body tensed up. He couldn't help the suspicion that she'd do it anyway in her eagerness to help.

"Oh, Peter," she whispered, sighing. Her shoulders slumped slightly. "I wish I could help you. I really wish I could help you."

"I know," Peter said, relaxing at her withdrawal. So far her actions were backing up her declaration of her morals. Something inside him felt especially good about it.

Sabrina smiled sadly. "It's really difficult for me to back off in this kind of situation. I respect your decision, as long as you promise to talk to Egon when this is all over, but it's hard to know I can't help."

"I know, and I promise," he said gently. "Maybe sometime in the future, when I get to know you better, but considering it's only been two days..." His voice trailed off and he shrugged.

Before Sabrina could respond, her senses flared and she tensed, reaching out to try to determine what she was feeling. "Peter!" she whispered fiercely. "Reach your leg out where I can touch it with mine. Do it now!"

"What?" he asked, thrown by the apparent change in subject.

"Just do it!"

Peter blinked and did as requested, putting his left leg out as far over toward her as he could, half of it bared with the removal of his footwear. His green eyes widened as he watched Sabrina kick her right leg straight up into the air, practically touching her nose as the loose leg of her dress pants slipped all the way up, revealing a sleek, muscular limb. She quickly brought it down on top of his own, shifting with the motion so her bare ankle covered his, flesh touching flesh, her pant leg quickly sliding back down to its original position.

"Here goes nothing," she muttered. "Whatever happens, Peter, make sure we keep contact. It's the only way this is going to work." Sabrina then closed her eyes and concentrated.

The next thing Peter knew he felt another presence over his own. It wasn't invasive like possession, or how he imagined it would have felt had Sabrina done the scans she had offered earlier, but more like someone standing in front of him as a shield. And then the pressure started.

For the next five or so minutes it seemed as though something was trying to get at him, and Sabrina was doing something to keep it away. He kept himself braced in case whatever it was broke through despite the woman's efforts, hoping as he did so that it would help make Sabrina's job easier. Everything finally came to a climax with two distinctive screams filling the small space of the cell, echoing off the stone walls. Peter watched as Sabrina's eyes flew open and the consciousness drained out of them, her body slumping back against the rock behind her, her head tilting toward him. The pressure he had been feeling was gone, as well as the shield.

"Sabrina?" he asked tentatively, fear filling him at the sight before him. "Sabrina, are you okay?"

"She's experiencing a case of psychic overload at the moment," a now-familiar voice said smoothly from the open doorway of the cell. Peter looked over and took in the image of a tall, dark-haired man who vaguely resembled John Travolta from the movie _Look Who's Talking_ but with longer, greasier hair. "Unfortunately, she also fried the only agent I have that's powerful enough to get all the information I need out of you. So I guess I'll just have to do this the old fashioned way." His transparent form moved inside purposefully, quickly making his way over to the still-conscious psychologist.

"I take it I'm dealing with Vincent Vega then?" Peter asked defiantly, shifting slightly to keep skin to skin contact with Sabrina. He wasn't sure if it would still be effective, but he wasn't willing to take the chance. She had told him to keep it up, so he would.

"I can see I'm dealing with a real brain trust here," the ghost muttered as he unhooked Peter's shackles from the wall. "Now look," he said shortly. "I need to take your cuffs off. Either you cooperate and come along quietly, or I bring out your friend from the library and we do things that way. Your choice."

"Only if I can bring Sabrina along," the Ghostbuster retorted.

"What difference can she make? She's not going to be anything but dead weight for hours if not days. What do you want with her?" Dirty brown eyes glittered as they assessed the captive man.

"I'm certainly not leaving her behind for you to do whatever sick and nasty things your minions can come up with to her. Besides, won't it be easier to get Dillinger if you have her with you? She is his teammate after all."

Vega looked amused at that. "You'll have to carry her. I'm not wasting any of my agents for such a meaningless task as carting her worthless hide around. Do we have a deal then?"

Peter sighed. "You don't have to call in your lackey. As long as I can bring Sabrina I'll follow."

The ghost merely grinned, unlocked his restraints, and tossed two pairs of shoes at his feet, also undoing Sabrina's restraints before stepping back and watching as Peter scooped her into his arms after replacing their footwear. "She's heavier than a proton pack, you know. It won't be nearly as easy."

"Just lead the way, bunky. I don't remember agreeing to having any in-depth discussions with you." Peter shifted the woman in his arms, her head resting against his chest, her eyes still open, unseeing.

Vega merely chuckled and left the room, Peter trailing behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

_My continued readership continues to make me so happy! Thank you all so much! Here's the next part of the adventure - enjoy, and feel free to let me know what you think!_

* * *

The Ghostbusters offered to have Lau and Dillinger crash at the firehouse that night in case they received a call about the two missing psychologists. They agreed and settled into the first-floor guest room while Janine firmly planted herself on the second-floor couch. "If you think I'm going home while there's a chance I can help you've got another thing coming," she told them with a glare that matched her fierce tone. No one said anything else about her departing.

Egon, Ray, and Winston gathered in the third-floor lab once the other three were settled, not quite able to call it a night. "I'm going to see if I can narrow down that list of demons we came up with any further," Ray declared, moving toward the bookshelves to do just that.

"That's not a bad idea, Raymond. I believe I will examine the proton packs again, especially the destabilizer, to be certain they will be ready for tomorrow." Egon stepped over to the lab table where the destabilizer was resting.

"You think this is going to go down tomorrow then?" Winston asked, seating himself in front of the lab computer.

"It seems likely," Egon replied. "Vega has all the pieces of his revenge in place. There would be no advantage in delaying any longer."

Winston nodded. "It would actually be a disadvantage. The more time he gives Dillinger and the rest of us to find him..."

The blond physicist shot him a look over his shoulder. "Exactly."

"Do you think Peter is all right?" Ray asked softly from the second table where he had laid out a handful of books, one of them open in front of him.

"You bet I do," Winston reassured him immediately. "Like we talked about earlier, Pete's worth more to Vega alive. He's an easy way to keep Sabrina in line. And I think they'll both watch out for each other."

"Consider this as well, Raymond," Egon added. "Vega knows what we are capable of. He must, if he took our participation into account for his plan. He knows that we have the ability to come up with a creative, effective solution to the dilemma he has presented us and the members of E-Branch. What better way to handicap us than to kidnap one of us?"

Ray's head dropped slightly. "He thinks he can stop us from working against him since he has Peter," the redhead concluded. He straightened sharply and gave his teammates a stubborn, determined look. "I say we show him he doesn't know who he's dealing with. I'm going to find out which demon he's working for, and then we'll see who ends up handicapped."

The other two smiled at him, feeling their own spirits rise in reflection. "I know you will, Ray," Egon said simply, then returned his attention to the destabilizer while the younger man returned to his books.

"Are we going to have Lau and Dillinger wearing packs tomorrow?" Winston asked, bringing the spare pack that was normally stored in the lab over to where Egon was working. "We might need the extra fire power, and the only person I've seen use one better than Dillinger is Pete." He smiled ruefully. "Don't tell Pete this, but I think with a little more time, Dillinger would beat him hands down. He has a natural knack for firing accurately. I don't doubt Sabrina's claim that Dillinger is best sniper out there."

"I think it would be best if they were wearing packs," Egon said thoughtfully. "That would give us four streams plus the destabilizer, and we may need them if Vega's patron demon makes an appearance. Some of the demons Ray has discovered are quite powerful."

"That's for sure," Ray agreed. "I'd hate to meet some of these at less than full strength or without the destabilizer."

Winston nodded. "Then I'll go get the rest of the packs. I'm more than sure Dillinger can handle himself, but I'll run Lau through the basics of using the proton packs tomorrow before we go anywhere."

Ray looked up from another of the tomes he was searching through. "What about Janine? We know she can use a pack, and with Peter in trouble she'd want to come along."

Egon frowned as he considered it. "I don't believe we can risk her participation," he said slowly. "The reluctance to endanger her aside, we may need to have someone here in case Peter and Sabrina manage to escape. I wouldn't wish them to return to an empty firehouse."

"And once Vega's finished with his revenge, he and his boss may head this way to free the ghosts in the containment unit," Ray added, his brown eyes wide.

"We'll engage the safety measures before we leave for the final confrontation," Egon declared.

"Then let's get this work done and get some sleep," Winston said firmly, heading for the double doors leading out of the lab. "Sounds like we're going to have one heck of a busy day ahead of us."

The phone call they had been hoping for came in just before sunrise, but not from the source they were expecting. Janine snatched it up from the end table at the opposite end of the couch. "Ghostbusters," she said breathlessly.

"I would like to speak with _Captain_ Dillinger," the voice on the other end of the line whispered menacingly.

The redhead blinked and turned to face the others that were beginning to gather around the second-floor phone. "He wants to talk to you," she said to the dark-haired sniper as he reached the top of the stairs, offering him the receiver, her bright blue eyes wide.

He strode over quickly, snatched it out of her hand and brought it up to his ear. "What do you want, Vega?" he asked coldly.

"You know what I want, Dillinger. And I have two somethings that will insure you come to give it to me. I know you understand the situation. You'd have to be a fool not to, and you may be an ass-kissing lackey, _Captain_, but I don't think you're a fool."

"Where?" Dillinger asked shortly.

"Where else? The library, tonight at ten o'clock. You can even bring Lau and the Ghostbusters if you'd like. They do have a stake in this, too, I suppose. It should be entertaining to watch their faces when I finally give you what you've always deserved."

"The hostages are alive, correct?"

"Of course. Marconi has a few things coming her way as well, and I need her to be awake enough to appreciate the significance of it all. Venkman is just insurance." There was a brief pause. "And cheap labor. Someone needs to haul the bitch around."

"What did you do to her?" Dillinger said suspiciously.

"_I_ didn't do anything. It's not my fault she overloaded herself frying one of my agents. Although I suppose this is easier not having to deal with her mouth. You see, Dillinger? Venkman's a multi-purpose tool." A wicked snicker came over the line. "See you tonight, Dillinger." The line went dead.

"What did he say?" Ray asked as Dillinger replaced the receiver mechanically.

"The meeting's been set up for tonight at the library, ten o'clock," the man said emotionlessly.

"Are they okay? You asked what he did to her," Lau asked tensely.

"They're alive. I was right. He wants to torture Sabrina. Venkman's insurance for him."

"But what made you ask that question?" Egon insisted.

"She's not awake, and Venkman's carrying her around. Obviously they aren't staying in one place, probably to keep us from finding them before tonight. I'd like to do it anyway, to spoil his fun if nothing else. This ends before another sunrise, period. I will not deal with Vega ever again." The lack of emotion turned icy as Dillinger caught each of his audience's eyes, forcing his point home with the piercing gaze he fixed on them.

"I second that," Winston said determinedly. "This has gone way too far."

"Then let's do it," Lau said. "Janine, please stay here. Vega might call again, and we'll need to know."

She held his hazel gaze for a few moments and sighed. "Hold down the fort, gotcha. And don't think I don't know that this way I'm one less person that Vega can use against you. You just better bring Peter home in one piece, and Sabrina, too, or you'll face the wrath of Melnitz. I don't care if you're a government agent."

"Better listen to her, Lau," Winston warned with a clap on the Chinese man's shoulder. "She's completely serious, and we've learned that the wrath of Melnitz is something to be feared."

He gave the black man a tight smile. "I was planning on doing that anyway."

"Why don't we all go together in Ecto?" Ray suggested. "There'll be a pack for everyone, as well as the destabilizer. We know Vega's working for a demon, and we'd be foolish to think his boss won't show up if things start going against him."

"Very good point, Raymond," Egon praised him.

"You know, I just thought of something," Winston said thoughtfully. "Do you think there's any chance that Spiritech has something to do with this? I mean, they were willing to try to resurrect Vega in the first place. Why would this be any different?"

They all shared a look at the suggestion. "This just keeps getting better and better," Dillinger said, annoyed. "Everyone better keep their eyes open for human lackeys as well as spirit ones. Thanks for bringing that up, Zeddemore. We had too tight a focus on Vega."

"Hey, I'm no more fond of surprises than you are."

"Let's go, team. We've only got just over twelve hours to find Vega and put a stop to this. Sabrina's obviously down, and that'll slow Peter down as well." Lau moved to the converted white ambulance and was about to slip into the back seat when Winston stopped him.

"Hold it just a minute, Lau," the black man said. "You're going to need to learn the basics of using our proton packs before we go out, just in case we run into the demon Vega's working for. I don't think you want to go up against something too powerful without knowing how to use your weapon."

Dillinger nodded sagely, a twinkle in his dark brown eyes. "Zeddemore's got a point, Lau. Those things have a bit of a kick to them, and I'm sure you don't want your first few shots to be taking out anything like, say, a member of your team because you aren't prepared."

Lau shot him a narrow-eyed glare. "I get it, Dillinger. So are they anything like the particle weapons we're used to?"

The sniper shook his head. "Nope, not really. Those have a kick something like a shotgun. The proton packs feel more like a firehose when you fire. You have to brace yourself differently."

"Point taken. All right, Winston. Show me how it all works."

Winston gave him a small smile and proceeded to teach the E-Branch commander the basics behind firing the packs. When they were finished, the five men climbed into Ecto-1 and headed out to conduct their search.

* * *

The rest of the morning was spent chasing various false trails around Manhattan, ending mostly in narrow, dead end alleyways filled with rotting garbage. The five men inside the vehicle could only be glad they didn't have to get out and walk through it. But tension levels were high as noon approached, the fact that they had skipped breakfast only compounding the problem.

"We'd better get something to eat, or we're going to be useless when we finally catch up with Vega," Ray said from the passenger seat. "I think there's a Taco Bell around here somewhere..."

"God, no," Dillinger snapped. "Anywhere but there." He crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back against the side of the car in the seat in the far back. "Especially since Sabrina's not here," he muttered under his breath.

Egon caught the whispered comment, but chose not to say anything. "I believe I would prefer to eat somewhere else as well," he said nonchalantly.

The occultist shrugged. "That's fine. We've got lots of choices."

They ended up pulling through a random fast food burger joint and eating in the car, Winston admonishing them to be careful of the upholstery. Though Dillinger got a wicked look at that, the group managed to avoid their driver's wrath and followed yet another lead. Egon continually adjusted the PKE meter, manually working past the fluctuations that had led them astray before, and they found themselves near Central Park with a strong energy signature to follow.

Once they had gotten out of the car and loaded to bear, Ray took his own meter and set it to Peter's biorhythms. Both devices pointed to the middle of the park and they followed the silenced meters through the trees, avoiding the usual traffic in the park. When they broke through to the large open area the park was famous for, they found a somewhat transparent figure cresting a small oddly empty hill with a familiar brown jumpsuit wearing figure trudging along behind him. Peter was carrying a still unconscious Sabrina Marconi cradled against his chest, his head down as he obviously pushed himself to keep going.

"The bastard's mine," Dillinger breathed and brought his proton rifle up to fire.

At the exact same time, Vega caught sight of the fivesome, a vicious scowl transforming his features. He stopped in his tracks, and Peter would have run into him had he been solid. As it was, he jumped back when he felt the chill of the ghost's touch, his head snapping up to find out what had happened. Just as the sniper was about to press the trigger, the vindictive spirit passed through the pair trailing behind him, placing them in front of him and causing Dillinger to pull his shot with a wordless snarl.

Venkman blinked to clear his head after the ghostly pass and focused on the group before him at the bottom of the hill. His emerald green eyes brightened considerably and a grin broke out on his face. "Hey, guys!"

"Peter!" Ray called back, joy radiating from the youngest Ghostbuster in waves.

"Are you alright, Peter?" Egon asked, relief etched in his features.

"Oh, hey, can't keep me down," Peter quipped. "You guys okay?"

"We're fine, Peter. How is Sabrina?" The blond physicist kept a careful eye on the ghost behind his best friend as they talked.

"I think she'll recover. He said something about psychic overload. She's breathing all right, and her temperature's fine. If it's like my headache, she'll make it."

"He's right," Lau said softly. "If it really is overload she'll be back on her feet in hours, depending on when it happened in the first place."

"So this is Vega, huh?" Winston asked, his voice neutral.

"Yeah. Thoroughly unimpressive, isn't he?" Dillinger quipped chillingly. "Of course, that may have something to do with the fact that he's _dead_, but maybe that's just me. Oh, yeah. And no chance to get resurrected either. Not having a body to come back to puts a crimp in the plan, doesn't it? My heart bleeds for you." The smile that transformed his features was completely wicked.

"It just might yet," Vega returned. "And let's remember who has the hostages, shall we?"

Egon noticed Peter starting to tense subtly, obviously prepping to do something. He only hoped it didn't get him hurt.

"Oh, I remember. That's because I know who needs to compensate for a lack of balls. Whatever happened to facing your problems like a man?"

"Like you're one to talk, Dillinger. Who stood back who knows how many yards and pressed a detonator instead of dealing with me as an equal after the ceremony?"

"Who felt the need to play like a mustard commercial in downtown New York and exchange a grenade instead when we obviously didn't know who you were?"

"Who hides himself away and picks off his victims without their ever seeing his face? And you even think about moving one inch, Doctor Venkman, I'll have you possessed and strangling Doctor Marconi before you can say E-Branch."

Peter gritted his teeth in frustration as he realized he'd been caught. _Don't worry so much, Peter_, a familiar voice said inside his head. _He couldn't do that to you right now if he wanted to. I wouldn't let him._

The brown-haired man's eyes widened and he took in a breath to respond. _Not out loud!_ the voice said quickly. _Let's keep this our little secret, shall we? Call me your ace in the hole, although I apologize for making you carry me around all morning. And, um, for talking to you this way at all. I don't like to do this without permission or at least some warning, but I think it might be necessary to keep my conscious state a secret for the time being. Oh, and if you want to talk back, just think it. I can pick up your surface thoughts, remember? Things would be a lot easier and we could do it at a longer distance if you were another telepath, but this works, too._

Peter managed to school his features into a neutral mask, and he kept one ear on the continuing insult exchange between Dillinger and Vega. _They really don't like each other much, do they?_ he asked haltingly.

_Never have. Of course, Vega's not really much of a loss in the person department. I've read his profile. If you think Dillinger's bad, imagine him completely unable to accept orders and enjoying his work to the point of sadism._

There was a pause. _Are you trying to give me nightmares?_

A giggle rippled through his thoughts. _They say misery loves company._

_So what was with the mustard commercial comment anyway? That just seemed so out of place, especially for this exchange._

She sighed. _Why did I know I'd end up having to admit this to somebody before this was all over? Okay, here's the embarrassing truth. We'd gone out about midafternoon during our stakeout to get something to eat. Taco Bell to be precise. On our way back, a car pulled up next to us and started motioning for us to roll our window down. Dillinger did, and that's when Vega threw the grenade into our laps. We're just lucky it didn't set off everything else we had in there._

It was Peter's turn to laugh. _**Dillinger**__ rolled down the window? __**Dillinger**__?_

_Just remember you're taking your life into your own hands if you ever bring that up with him. It wasn't one of his shining moments, and he really doesn't care to be reminded of it. We usually just agree that it was a stupid move by both of us - I didn't tell him not to after all - and go on. We blame the fact that we went to Taco Bell and agreed never to eat there again. Less embarrassing that way._

_I should let them know you're okay. This conversation is dying out, and I know Vega's about to take us somewhere else._

_You're probably right. Dillinger's repeating his insults, which usually means he's about to give up on words and resort to bullets._

_Right now that would be __**really**__ bad since he's toting around a proton pack._

_Oooo, gotcha. Ask them if they've had lunch yet._

During the next lull in the dozens contest going on, Peter cleared his throat, mentally preparing himself to actually speak instead of just thinking his words. "So you guys catch lunch yet?" he asked casually.

The fivesome looked at him strangely. "Yeah, Peter," Ray answered slowly, a bit relieved at the distraction since it lowered the tension levels in the air. "We grabbed some burgers on the way here."

"What are you up to, Doctor Venkman?" Vega asked, his dirty brown eyes narrowed.

"Oh, well, I was just going to suggest Taco Bell. And remind you to ask for Grey Poupon." He shifted the woman in his arms deliberately.

"They don't serve..." the redheaded occultist began before Dillinger discreetly nudged him, his eyes casually half-lidded.

"Thanks but no thanks, Venkman. Whenever I open that stuff it just explodes in my lap."

"And I let you in my Ecto with food?" Winston asked incredulously, his dark brown eyes sparkling with knowledge that something was up.

"Fair enough," Peter said. "Just a suggestion. Just thought you might want to know what I was thinking."

"Hey, I understand," the trenchcoat-wearing man said with a shrug. "Thanks for sharing."

Vega looked from one man to the other, suspicion etched in his expression. "We'll be going now, _Captain_ Dillinger. I don't suggest either trying to stop us or to follow. I have agents surrounding the area and I will make you regret any such thing." He smiled slyly. "If you don't believe me, let your civilian friends check with their little gizmos. They'll understand what I'm talking about."

Egon narrowed his eyes and checked his still activated meter. "He's right. According to these readings we are completely surrounded by entities in a range from Class Three to Class Five. While I'm not entirely concerned with our welfare since we are prepared for such a confrontation, I hesitate to act while Peter and Sabrina are vulnerable."

"As much as I hate to say this, we'll always have our chance at ten o'clock tonight. A draw then. Vega?" Dillinger gave the ghost a mocking smile.

"If you want to call your forced retreat that to feel better, by all means do it. But you're right in one thing. Tonight at ten o'clock. See you at the library." He grinned evilly before a shimmering shield surrounded him and his two hostages, popping out of existence and taking the three of them with it.

"He teleported them elsewhere. I can't exactly pinpoint where," Egon said tersely.

"I've lost Peter," Ray confirmed, checking his own meter.

"But are the ghosts that were surrounding us gone?" Lau asked.

"Affirmative," the physicist confirmed. "We're alone in the park."

"Then let's get back to the firehouse. We need to put together a plan to deal with this tonight." Lau gave everyone a quick look and began leading them back to the car.

"What was that weird conversation with Peter all about?" Winston asked Dillinger as they climbed into Ecto-1. "It didn't make any sense."

"Sure it did," the sniper said smugly. "Sabrina's just fine - and awake."

"How do you know?" Ray asked, a smile starting to turn up the corners of his mouth at the announcement.

"Venkman said it all, I think," Dillinger responded as Winston pulled into traffic and started to head back to lower Manhattan.

"Stop being so damn cryptic," Lau said with a scowl.

"Sabrina had to be feeding Venkman those comments telepathically. I'm not going to explain completely, but only she would have made those references. That's what Venkman meant when he said he just wanted us to know what he was _thinking_."

"That does explain Peter's surprise after Vega called him on his intended action," Egon mused. "That must have been the first time she sent him a mental communication."

"And it would be even easier for her to do it unnoticed with him being in direct contact with her like that," Lau finished. "She's been working on an ability that fools people into believing she's dead or unconscious. Guess it works."

"I love having an ace up my sleeve, especially knowing who I'm up against," Dillinger said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Not that I can't take him alone, but it's always nice to have a back-up plan."

"Why don't we start working on that?" Egon suggested, and the group began doing just that.

* * *

Ten o'clock came quickly that night, finding the three Ghostbusters and two E-Branch agents waiting inside Ecto-1 as they had for the past half hour. They watched the swirling mass of sprits surround the library building as they had the day before, Ray and Egon constantly checking their meters. "It's about time for the showdown," Lau said as he checked his watch. "What's it look like out there?"

"The situation isn't nearly as dire as appearances would lead one to believe," Egon replied. "The actual number of entities present is equal to that at the park earlier, but manageable with the five of us. Fortunately we brought enough traps."

"Someone's coming," Lau said with a brief gesture toward the library.

The rest of them refocused their attention on the ground to the right of the vehicle, Dillinger with his gun drawn and below the level of the window, and took in the sight of a tall blond man walking confidently toward them. His chin-length hair was in disarray, and his steel-grey eyes twinkled with malevolent amusement. "I believe you're expected, gentlemen," he said in a deeper baritone, the light breeze catching the black robe he wore and setting it to fluttering. "You may wish to hurry since Mister Vega is not a patient man."

"Mister Vega can kiss my pasty white butt," Dillinger muttered under his breath.

"We're on our way," Lau called back through the open windows of the car.

"He'll meet you at the top of the steps." The man turned and walked away, quickly disappearing into the cloud of ghosts.

"I guess that's our cue," Winston said with a small sigh. "Here goes nothing."

"Oh, come on, Winston. This is going to be fun." Dillinger wiggled his eyebrows at the black man before he got out of the back of the hearse, holstering his handgun in the process.

Not long after they were all armed with proton packs and traps and ready to head out. "One thing," the sniper said shortly. "When Vega goes down, it's by _my_ hand. I've seen news coverage of how you guys operate, and I guess I might be able to understand you pitching in to keep him in place, but _I_ trap him. That's all there is to it."

Lau immediately agreed while the Ghostbusters shared a speculative look. "Considering how much grief he's put you through, I can see why you want the honor. If it's at all possible, we'll make it happen," Winston said.

Dillinger's eyes narrowed dangerously. "It better be possible," he practically growled.

"If it comes down to a choice of another of us trapping him and Vega getting away, I'm afraid we'll be forced to trap him," Egon declared firmly.

Dillinger released an explosive breath. "Fine. I'll just have to make sure it doesn't come down to that choice then," he gave in begrudgingly.

"We still need to deal with the demon behind it all anyway," Ray added.

"Him I don't care about. Vega's my concern."

"Then let's move. I think we're more than fashionably late," Lau said, gesturing down the long sidewalk that led to the stairs with a flourish.

Dillinger moved to the front of the pack as they did as requested, and the step or two proved to be enough for a solid wall of mist to cut him off from the rest of the group. "Dillinger!" Lau yelled.

On the other side of the barrier, the sniper heard his commander's call and shot a quick look over his shoulder. He took in the sight of the wall, his jaw clenching. "Well, that's one way to make sure he's mine," he muttered to himself. "I'm fine!" he called back. "I'm heading for Vega as we speak!" Dillinger then strode purposefully toward the long flight of concrete stairs where his nemesis was waiting.

"Damn it, Dillinger," Lau snarled softly at the other man's response. "The whole idea was we were supposed to do this as a team."

"Did you really expect any less?" Winston asked.

"We have our own problems, gentlemen," Egon said sharply, his PKE meter beeping urgently. "The spirits are converging on our location en masse."

"Let's move around this shell," Lau decided, starting to run to his right. "At the very least we can stretch out their line, and maybe we can find the edge and get behind this thing."

"Great idea, Lau," Ray enthused, right behind the Chinese man.

"I think I see an end to the haze at the edge of the building over there," Winston called, pointing ahead of them.

"We'll try to get there then turn and face them. We'll know what we're dealing with that way."

"That would be when and where I would approximate the arrival of the entities given both groups' speed and trajectory," Egon approved. The four of them then moved silently forward to meet the enemy.


	6. Chapter 6

_Thanks to all of my readers for sticking with me on this ride so far - it shouldn't be much longer! In the meantime, here's the next chapter. Enjoy, and feel free to let me know what you think!_

* * *

Dillinger continued to walk purposefully forward as the rest of his teammates began their shift in position. The proton pack on his back felt odd, definitely not what he was used to, but more than welcome. If bullets wouldn't kill Vega and _keep_ him dead, he was more than willing to use something that would, figuratively speaking. And he could see two pluses to this arrangement, all in all. One, he could now go to those stuffed shirts who kept denying him and tell them he had practical battle experience with a particle weapon. Maybe _then_ they'd let him have one in the field. Two, he could come back after this was all over and gloat. He'd heard the Ghostbusters had a way you could look inside their containment unit, and he'd love to point at Vega and laugh at his permanent predicament. Only once or twice when he had time, just to make sure Vega was staying where he belonged, of course.

But now he had to make that happen. He reached the base of the stairs and gazed up at the top, where he could see the slightly transparent form of the man he'd killed so long ago, Vincent Vega. Peter Venkman was kneeling next to him, Sabrina Marconi lying on the concrete in front of the Ghostbuster. The brown-haired man was supporting the upper half of her body in a sitting position, maintaining contact between them. The blond man that had delivered Vega's "invitation" was nowhere to be seen.

"I see you've finally made it, _Captain_," the ghost sneered. "Tell me, do they always hand out bigger and better titles to the men with the best ass-kissing techniques?"

"You tell me," Dillinger shot back. "You were doing a good job of it at Spiritech."

"What would you know, G-Man? You were too busy buying into the brainwashing of the project to experience _real_ life, _real_ choice. That's what Spiritech offered me, and what I grabbed with both hands."

"And it's a good thing you used both hands. With your coordination you'd need both chances."

The ghost's jaw tensed at that. "Still buying into the myth that you're the greatest sniper in the world? I could outshoot you blindfolded, and you know it."

Dillinger bristled slightly, but quickly got it back under control. "So which one of us is dead again? Oh, yeah. You. By _my_ shot. I'd say that's enough of a defense, wouldn't you?"

Beside the angry sprit Peter knelt stunned, his head turning back and forth like he was at a tennis match with each insult thrown. _Surprised?_ Sabrina asked telepathically as the killers' conversation continued.

_You could say that._

_Why? They did this earlier._

_I think they were holding back then. This has the feel of taking off the gloves._

_True. But then again, this is the first time they've been alone so to speak in a very, very long time. A lot of built up aggression. And they hate each other of course._

_But the lines they're using are classic. I have to remember some of these. It'll liven up the next session I have with Egon._

Peter could feel Sabrina roll her eyes at that. _Men._

_You wouldn't have us any other way._

_Probably not, but that doesn't mean I can't complain every now and again. And so you know, I'm already committing this conversation to memory. Some of the lines __**are**__ classic._

_Photographic memory?_

_Kind of. It's another of my abilities called total recall. Made college a whole lot easier when I didn't have to take notes._

_Does this mean if I ask real nice I might get a transcribed copy?_

Laughter bubbled through Peter's mind. _Sure, but only if you ask __**real**__ nice. And __**I'm**__ the judge of that._

_Hmm, I'll have to do some practicing..._

In the meantime the insults Vega and Dillinger were trading were ranging in topic from comparisons to various animals to esoteric references to obscure literary characters. There seemed to be no limits to the possibilities. Vega had drawn himself up haughtily, obviously a bit flustered. "Yeah, well, your IQ is obviously no greater than your shoe size!"

There was a pause as that one sank in to all the witnessing parties. Dillinger got a disbelieving smirk on his face as he scoffed slightly. Peter's jaw dropped. And Sabrina cracked an eye open and looked over at the ghost who continued to glare at her teammate. She looked up briefly at the man who held her, then shook her head and let it fall once again against the firm chest. _I can't believe he just said that_, she sent, the sensation of her ruefully shaking her head accompanying the thought.

_We're dealing with a killer with the maturity level of a seventh grader!_

"Is that so?" Dillinger retorted. "Well now we know exactly what we're dealing with. I finally understand why you needed to leave, to betray the project. You are just a spoiled child who has to have things work out his way, or he'll just take his ball and go home."

"Shut up, Dillinger."

"That's why I beat you. That's why you're dead. You can't roll with the punches. You can't accept anything if it's not what you wanted. You need someone around to hold your hand, but you resent anyone who does it."

"Shut _up_, Dillinger!" Vega powered up a psi blast and fired it at the unsuspecting sniper.

But as it was about to hit its target it crackled against an invisible psychic shield, dissipating as it flared around the buffer and the man behind it. The two verbally sparing men turned to face its source, the grinning Doctor Sabrina Marconi, who now sat up on her own and was maneuvering to her feet, Peter right behind her.

"Now, now, boys. Let's play fair." The Italian woman continued to smile wickedly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Took you long enough, Sabrina," Dillinger called. "I thought I was going to have to keep this jerk talking for hours yet."

"Hey, I couldn't have asked for better entertainment. Do you really think I would stop it before it hit the climax?"

"Ah, Marconi. Finally decided to rejoin us, I see. Enjoy your nap?"

"Now that you mention it, no. Is there any way to complain to the manager? The hospitality around here bites." She raised a derisive eyebrow.

"Still with the loud mouth. A shame, really. One could only hope that it would have connected with the rest of your brain at some point."

"Critiquing _my_ common sense? Who's the guy throwing insults at the world's greatest sniper? The same sniper that _killed_ him no less?"

Energy began crackling around the translucent form. "I should kill _you_ for that," he snarled.

Peter, who had stayed silent out of the need to control his laughter, moved in front of his fellow psychologist at that point. "You'll have to get through me first, bunky," he said with a cold glare.

"Peter, no," Sabrina protested. She was ignored.

"And this is a threat how, Venkman?" Vega asked, almost amused. "Just keep your civilian nose out of this. It isn't your concern."

"And I say it is," the brown-haired man retorted obstinately. "So what do you have to say about that?"

Spiritech's dead hired hit man's response wasn't in words. The next thing anyone knew Peter was flying back through the air, Vega having made a small gesture with his right hand. The Ghostbuster landed near the edge of the top stair landing, groaning in pain, a few muttered curses escaping his lips as he struggled to regain his equilibrium.

Sabrina turned back to the ghost before her after a quick glance confirmed Peter's survival. "You bastard!" she snapped. "He didn't have anything to do with this! Why don't you save your tantrums for the people you really want? It's not like we haven't figured out Dillinger and I are your _real_ targets. Leave the others out of it."

"You think you know it all," Vega murmured, amused.

Just then the distinctive whine of a proton pack powering up reached their ears. The ghost darted forward in a flash and grabbed Sabrina by the arms, pulling her in front of him with her feet dangling over the drop-off of the steps. She struggled against the hold fruitlessly, her body tense as it jerked back and forth. Dillinger's aim never wavered, although he had yet to fire. "If you want me," Vega said smugly, "you'll have to go through _her_ to do it. And you're not going to get any last-minute backup, either. The rest of your party is just a bit occupied with my agents near the end of the building." He gestured slightly with Sabrina, nowhere near enough to give Dillinger a clear shot.

The two E-Branch agents looked in the direction indicated and saw the distinctive flash of the firing of the Ghostbusters' throwers. They counted four beams periodically cutting through the night, a random shout every now and again barely reaching them. Sabrina gritted her teeth as she realized Vega had been right. There would be no help from that quarter.

That left Dillinger. The psychologist looked down at the man she'd been teammates with for the longest time as the standoff returned to its previous state, mechanically continuing to struggle slightly. The proton rifle had never moved, not that she had expected it to, and the dark-haired man was once again taking aim. A flash of panic washed through her, knowing exactly what to expect, and then acceptance. She'd always known this could happen at any time. Calmly she smiled, her entire body shaking with the effort to hold herself up in Vega's hold, and then, with no warning whatsoever, she went completely, bonelessly limp.

The sudden change in position took Vega by utter surprise, as intended. His arms dropped along with her weight, leaving a good portion of his upper torso revealed. Coinciding with this was one Peter Venkman with a flying tackle at just the right angle that kept both him and Sabrina on the upper landing of the library steps, he twisting his body to take the brunt of the landing. As soon as they were clear, Dillinger's beam caught Vega in the center of the chest, pinning him in place, writhing in the proton stream with a wordless growl.

Off to the side, Sabrina caught her breath, considering herself lucky to have breath to catch. She rolled to her side and looked down at the wincing, gasping man who had saved her. "Peter, are you alright? You could have gotten yourself killed! Dillinger was going to fire at any second and you could have been caught in the blast!"

The corners of the man's mouth began to twitch upward. "He messed up trying to protect you once before, Marconi."

"Peter, what are you..."

"I'm just lucky you and Dillinger are so good at protecting yourselves. But I couldn't stand by and let him win again. I've been waiting for a chance at payback for a long time." His eyes fluttered open, and while Sabrina was looking at Peter Venkman, she knew the voice she had just heard hadn't come from him.

"Hawk?" she whispered in awe, her gaze shifting to a point just to Peter's right. She more than recognized the light baritone with the slight British accent.

The translucent figure in front of her grinned. "You always were quick, Sabrina."

Her eyes narrowed. "Have you been stuck here this entire time?" she asked, horror beginning to filter into her expression.

"I'm... not sure. I can remember being there when Dillinger managed to kill Vega," the ghost reminisced thoughtfully. "For a moment I was sure I could finally move on, but then I could feel Vega holding back, refusing to do the same. As soon as I realized his spirit had stayed behind, things went all fuzzy on me again. Well, at least until that incident with the new E-Branch team Dillinger worked with. But vaporizing Vega's body didn't disperse his ghost, so I couldn't leave. Things didn't get clear for me again until I found myself staring at Vega holding you like a shield and Dillinger about to shoot through you to get him. Peter here was still catching his breath, so I turned him around and told him how he needed to tackle you to get you out of the way and still land safely for both of you."

Peter shrugged as he sat up. "He said he couldn't do it last time, and he couldn't do it himself this time. I could, and I more than wanted to - and as soon as I saw what was going on I would have done it without any prompting anyway. But the advice on how to land came in handy. I'm not sure I would have taken the steps into account otherwise."

"This will be the last time you'll deal with Vega, Sabrina," Hawk said chillingly. "It has to be."

"I certainly hope so, Hawk. Now, not to be rude or anything, but we need to get back into the swing of things. I think Dillinger could use Peter's expertise right about now."

"Certainly. I'll still be around, Sabrina. I need to see this to the end."

"Then I'll talk to you later." Part of the female psychologist couldn't help but wish his fading from sight meant he'd managed to move on, but she knew it wasn't possible yet. "Are you okay, Peter?" she asked her companion worriedly.

A grin lightened Peter's expression. "A bit battered and bruised, but I think I'll make it," he quipped.

Sabrina grinned back, relieved. "That's good to hear. But now you better help Dillinger, at least with some advice. He's got Vega pinned, but that's about it."

Peter's head snapped around and took in the situation. Sabrina had described it pretty accurately, and both psychologists scrambled to their feet. "Dillinger, tighten the beam and start moving up the stairs!" he called out. "You'll need to be closer to place the trap!"

The sniper merely nodded and started to follow Peter's directions, adjusting the right dial and moving up the first few steps.

Vega's eyes widened at that. He then threw his head back and yelled up toward the sky, "Now! Now would be a good time!" A bolt of energy shot down out of the clear night sky and struck the struggling ghost, lining him in a crackling gold light. The beam had been holding him up to that point, but after the startling event Vega merely laughed and shrugged off the weapon.

Dillinger's eyes narrowed as he continued to fire, stubbornly refusing to give up. Sabrina and Peter continued to watch, frozen in place, as neither of them knew of anything they could do to help. The ghost's laughter turned wicked, and he raised his right hand, palm forward. A beam of energy matching that which surrounded him shot out from its center, catching the trenchcoat wearing man at the base of the stairs square in the chest, although he attempted to dodge, nearly succeeding. Dillinger froze in his tracks and collapsed, the proton stream cutting off as his hands jerked off the weapon, the thrower dropping to the ground along with his body.

"Dillinger!" Sabrina screamed, only Peter grabbing her arms stopping her from dashing down to his side.

"And you were supposed to be so quick on your feet," Vega said with a chuckle as he grinned triumphantly down at the supine man who had rolled down the few stairs he had started up, twitching slightly as an aftereffect of the blow he had taken.

It was obviously a great effort, but Dillinger managed to raise his head and glare at his nemesis. "You're supposed to be dead," he ground out. "And this isn't over, not by a long shot. You made a mistake by not killing me when you had the chance, and I'll make sure you regret it."

"My chance isn't over, Dillinger. I'm just going to do it right." A second blast shot out, knocking the sniper out cold. "I believe we have an appointment to keep, lady and gentlemen." The same shimmering shield he had used earlier at Central Park surrounded the four of them, and when it popped out of existence, they were gone.

* * *

When the three remaining Ghostbusters and the E-Branch field commander reached the edge of the misty shield near the end of the library building they quickly went back to back and waited for the rush of ghosts to start. They didn't have to wait long. Soon after, they were overwhelmed by a wave of various spirits, grimly declared by Egon to have a range of Class Three to Class Five just as they had at Central Park before they began to fire out of sheer self-defense. For the longest time their shots were merely to keep the entities away from them, unable to spare the focus to capture individual ghosts and risk others getting through.

Eventually, the momentum of the first rush faltered and died, allowing the four defenders to gain the upper hand, managing to capture a few of the bolder spirits who got too close. They were just starting to be able to pick out other individuals and actually talk to one another when a flash of bright golden light shot down from the sky, making everything pause.

Egon grabbed for the PKE meter he had let hang still activated from his belt. "The level of energy that just transferred down is right off the scale," he announced, his pale blue eyes wide.

"It was that powerful?" Ray asked, a bit awed.

Blond brows creased in thought. "No, I believe the intensity is more due to the quantity. The sudden massive surge was too much for the sensors in the meter to register normally. However, that does still leave us with the fact that there is a large source that it originated from, a source that apparently is interested in the happenings occurring on the stairs of the library."

"The demon!" Ray guessed, his light brown eyes sparkling with excitement. "Do you think it was called here?"

Egon shook his head. "The readings don't substantiate that hypothesis, Raymond."

"Peter, Sabrina, and Dillinger are over there, though," Winston mentioned as he kept his eyes on the ghosts that circled them, obviously waiting for something.

"Don't forget Vega," Lau added. "What if that power was just transferred to him?"

"Oh, boy," Ray said, dread in his tone. "That wouldn't be good. That wouldn't be good at all. Egon, is there anything we can do to break through these things and get over there?"

Before the physicist could answer, the crowd that surrounded them began to shift around agitatedly, unintelligible mutterings filling the air. Then the ghosts turned as one and took off for the library steps. With one, quick, shared look, the four men ran to follow.

They had been unsure what to expect when they arrived at the site of the proposed confrontation between Vega and Dillinger, but the total lack of presence threw them. Nothing could be seen or detected by the rapidly drawn meters of Ray and Egon beyond residuals. "So where did they take off to now?" Winston asked, bewildered.

"I get the feeling that Vega took them somewhere specific. He obviously has something in mind for Dillinger, and I'm sure it's nasty," Lau answered, frowning.

"But where did they go?" Ray asked.

"I don't know," Egon said as he watched the ghosts they had followed take off in a stream away from the building, "but I would be willing to guess they do."

"Then let's follow them," Lau said decisively, heading for Ecto-1. The others were right behind him.

"And you never know," Winston said with an evil smirk as he slipped in behind the wheel. "We might be able to cull the herd a bit before we get to where we're going."

* * *

Winston had been right on the money with his last comment before the chase began. Egon and Ray managed to catch stragglers as the crowd of entities led them around and about the streets of Manhattan. Lau tried the first few times to help, but his inexperience with the packs was too much of a hindrance while hanging out the window of a moving vehicle.

After one such high speed strafing run, Ray and Egon slipped back inside, each with a full trap. "Can anyone tell where they're headed yet?" the occultist asked as he took both traps and added them to the pile in the back.

"You know, I think they're headed for Broadway," Winston replied.

There was a pregnant pause after that, followed by a disappointed sigh from the group. "What were you guys waiting for?" Lau asked, covering up his own reaction.

"That line was just begging for Peter to make a comment," Ray explained. "I guess we're just so used to it happening that we waited for it."

The Chinese man paused, then released a deep breath with a whoosh. "I know what you mean. _Somebody_ on my team would have done the same thing, most likely Dillinger. Although Sabrina's come up with a few unexpected zingers every now and again herself."

"Don't worry, everyone," Egon said firmly. "We're on our way to rescue them as we speak. In fact..." He paused for a moment and checked his meter as they approached Union Square Park. "We're here. Pull over now, Winston."

"Union Square?" Ray asked as the black man did as requested. "Are you sure?"

"Definitely, Raymond. All the readings, as well as the line of ghosts, lead in this direction. I'm also detecting the beginnings of a dimensional gate in the center of the park."

Ray confirmed it on his own meter. "You're right, Egon. And if that's where Peter and the others are, we need to get them out of there."

"If that's the mission then let's get to it," Lau said, getting out of the car and readjusting his proton pack. The others followed suit, and the foursome followed the now-silenced meters into the park, hoping that they weren't too late to save their friends.

* * *

"Please tell me that head injuries are the latest thing," Sabrina muttered as she started to rouse after Vega had teleported them to their current location, wherever that was. The power surge necessary to pull off that stunt had also knocked out both people that were still conscious. "Then at least I'd have some sort of lame excuse to be continually waking up from an unconscious state."

"Sorry, can't do that," Peter returned from beside her, his voice suggesting he was in a similar position. "We're just trendsetters I guess."

She sighed and leaned back against the tree they were seated under. "The unfortunate side effects of such forward thinking."

"Is it just me, or are we handcuffed together around a tree trunk?" the male psychologist said suspiciously, tugging slightly against his bonds.

"Yeah, that would be my wrist you're pulling in a direction nature never intended," the black-haired woman said ruefully. "Vega's trying to get creative, I see."

"What a time to find artistic inspiration," Peter drawled. "Do you see Dillinger anywhere?"

Sabrina scanned the area she could see. "No, unfortunately. But I do think we're in another park, if that means anything. I don't think it's Central Park, though."

"No, it's not," Peter confirmed. "I don't see him either."

"He'll be brought here at the appropriate time," a new voice said with a superior tone.

The E-Branch agent grabbed the Ghostbuster's hand on the side of the tree opposite the direction of their latest visitor. "And when would that be?" she asked, just as haughtily.

A tall, lean man wearing a black velvet mage's robe stepped out of the brush surrounding them and looked down at them condescendingly. His straight, chin-length blond hair swung forward with the motion. "When I finish the preparations. Which brings me to why I'm here. You're both needed for this."

"A spell caster, huh?" Peter scoffed. "I think you'll find we're both unwilling sacrifices."

"It always amazes me to find out how short-sighted people can be, even when they've been exposed to the supernatural as you have, Doctor Venkman. At least Doctor Marconi here wasn't foolish enough to do such a thing."

"You seem to know us, sir, but we haven't had the pleasure of _your_ name," Sabrina said, somehow keeping her irritation under wraps.

"That is if you can get your nose out of the clouds long enough to do it," Peter snapped, losing the fight to do the same.

The man smiled. "Of course, Doctor Marconi. How impolite of me. My name is Brandon Fitzgerald." He bowed slightly, never breaking eye contact with the woman.

She took in a sharp breath through her teeth. "Fitzgerald, huh? Figures."

"You know this goon?" her companion asked incredulously.

"He's a Spiritech magician. He's been involved in a few of our investigations indirectly, so I've read his profile. I wasn't impressed. I know an arcanist who's much better at what he does, and a lot more creative than anything like this."

"So you say," Fitzgerald said, his steel grey eyes growing hard at the insults. "But _I'm_ the one here, aren't I?"

"True, and a disappointment at that. Damien's a lot cuter on top of everything else."

"And totally restrained by the stranglehold E-Branch puts on their mages," the standing man snarled. "I'll show you what unfettered genius can do. You will both be witnesses, as prescribed by the ancient ritual, to the unlocking of the gate to the realm of Lord Gramzen, mightiest of demon kings. And when he arrives, he will feed on your souls!"

Sabrina and Peter blinked at the near-religious fervor of the man standing above them. "Uh huh," the seated man said slowly. "I've heard that before. Am I supposed to be any more impressed than all the other times?"

"Fools," the blond man snapped, spittle flying from his mouth. "Fortunately my preparations are complete, and only require your presence to continue." He began to make florid gestures with his hands, muttering unintelligible, presumably arcane words. The handcuffs fell from the pair's wrists, but before they could even think about leaving, they found that their muscles would not respond to their brains' commands. "Up," Brandon said, the superior tone having returned to his voice.

Both Peter and Sabrina were surprised when they did as they were told. "Follow me," the mage said, turning and walking back the way he came. Again, they obeyed the command.

"This is almost as bad as being possessed," Peter whispered through gritted teeth.

"So, do you think there are any other... witnesses?" Sabrina whispered back.

"No. I'm thinking he bailed when I got knocked out. Don't blame him really. It's not like I'm in a position to help him anymore."

"I don't think that's it, Peter."

"Silence!" Fitzgerald cried, stopping in his tracks and gesturing dramatically to the space in front of him. "Gaze upon my masterpiece, the proof of my magical genius! This is how I shall open the gate for Lord Gramzen and receive the rewards he has promised me!"

_Greedy, self-centered little ass, isn't he?_ Sabrina thought to Peter, unable to speak out loud due to the mage's previous command.

_Considering what you've said of Spiritech, are you really all that surprised?_ Peter thought in return as Brandon swept forward and around the circle and five-pointed star etched into the ground and lined with red-tinted salt, if what they could see of the color by flickering torchlight was right.

_From what I've read of his profile, no. He's in this for the glory, the recognition. He was the middle child of a large, rich family. He's used to getting and doing whatever he wants and being ignored. He just happened to stumble upon the wrong books._

_For us at any rate._

The conversation was halted by subsequent orders, moving Venkman and Marconi to opposite sides of the circle, facing each other. Between them, on the edge of the drawn protection furthest away from where the threesome had entered the clearing, was Brandon Fitzgerald, straightening a large, musty tome on a tall wooden podium. The sorcerer cleared his throat and began, the ancient words of the ceremony spilling smoothly from his lips. If either psychologist could have thought of a way to disrupt it and managed to pull it off, they would have in a heartbeat, but they were magically bound to merely stand and watch as a massive golden doorway began forming in the center of the pentagram, only hints of a hideous creature prowling behind the still-closed portal able to be seen.

When the last word had finished echoing from the trees and the doorway stood there in all its splendor and nothing else happened, Brandon smiled in satisfaction and forced his captives to resume the position they had found themselves in when they awoke from the teleportation around yet another tree. New bonds were put in place and Fitzgerald leaned over to gloat in Sabrina's face. "Is that good enough for you?"

The black-haired woman flexed her jaw as she realized the spell that had been controlling her movements had been released. "Should it have been? Here you were, going off about how this big guy Gramzen is going to snack on my soul, and now all we're looking at is a lit-up pair of doors. Explain to me what's so impressive."

"I mean, really," Peter added. "Gozer had a more impressive set up than this. I've seen a god up close and personal and a little demon lord is supposed to make me quake? Please!"

The blond's jaw clenched and the two seated people could hear his teeth grinding with the effort. "This is only the beginning. Once the final component has been released, you will see my true glory! For now, sit and ponder the remainder of your existence. It _will_ be short." He straightened haughtily and strode off, disappearing quickly.

"You were right. He's a glory hound," Peter said as he stared after the pompous man.

"And a melodramatic one at that."

"So what's next? We really need to get out of here. There's a reason Fitzgerald stopped when he did, like he's only got a step or two left before he's finished. Whatever that step is it's important, but I have a feeling Ray's the only one who'll be able to figure it out in time."

"We need to find Dillinger, and fast. I'm sure he's part of whatever this final component is, and I know it being released won't be good for him. Is there any way for us to pick these locks?"

"Not you, but _I_ might be able to help."

"Hawk!" Sabrina cried happily.

"Hey, buddy," Peter greeted the wispy figure that knelt next to them both, his back to the circle. "I was afraid you'd left for good."

"Oh, no. I just couldn't afford to get caught by Vega or Fitzgerald yet. I like striking from the sidelines. They'll never see it coming."

"So what were you saying about helping us?" the Italian said winningly, smiling widely.

Hawk laughed. "If I didn't know you any better I'd think you weren't grateful."

"I _am_ grateful," Sabrina said seriously. "I also know that by helping us you'll be able to move on finally. If you've been stuck here waiting for this opportunity, I don't want to be the one to mess it up." As she finished her statement, both pairs of handcuffs sprung open and fell silently to the ground.

"You won't," the ghost reassured her. "You can't. Now you guys figure out what you're going to do now while I keep an eye on our magic-using friend. He's up to something bigger than I think Vega realizes, and I want to be able to put a stop to it if I have to. Oh, and Dillinger's that way." He pointed in a northwesterly direction. "Keep to the trees and you should avoid being seen."

The psychologists grinned. "Thanks, Hawk," Peter said. "And thanks for helping me help out before. Let me know if you need anything. I owe you one."

"No, you don't," Hawk denied firmly. "And you'll know if I need you. I'll see you before I leave if nothing else. Now let's get moving before everything hits the fan." The dead commander took off in the direction Fitzgerald had gone.

"I've got an idea," Peter said quickly. "Why don't I see if I can find the guys while you find Dillinger? If I meet up with them I can get myself armed and lead them to where you are."

"That'll work," Sabrina agreed. "I'll try to wait to do anything until I know where you are."

"And I'll try to be back within," he checked his watch, "fifteen minutes to a half hour. It's getting close to midnight, and that tends to be the time for these kinds of things."

"Gotcha. See you then." The two of them separated to take care of their individual tasks.

* * *

Captain James Dillinger slowly returned to consciousness, keeping his eyes closed on the off chance he was being watched. He took note of the fact that he was standing, most likely against a tree if the roughness of the surface behind him was any indication, and his wrists and ankles were strapped to said tree. There was also a metal band across his forehead holding it in place.

"Kinky," he muttered once he assured himself by the lack of noise and sense of presence that he was alone. "Too bad this isn't _my_ fetish." His lids fluttered open, and his dark brown eyes took in as much of his surroundings as he could without moving his head. "I suppose I should be grateful this isn't a medieval rack."

His barely audible commentary was cut off by a subtle tugging on the chain that held his ankles. He tensed slightly, ready to kick out at the captor who would try to take him somewhere else, probably the rest of Vega's plans for him. "Be careful down there," he quipped. "I happen to like circulation to my toes."

There was no response and the tugging continued. When it stopped, there was a brief rattle, as though someone was working on a lock. "Someone dropped out of school early if you can't even work a key in a lock," Dillinger slammed, hoping to get a response so he'd know who he was dealing with. One way or the other they were getting a boot to the face once his feet were free, but if he could find out beforehand...

Not ten seconds later the pressure was gone from his ankles and he took advantage of the fact by kicking backward where he had heard the rattle. Nothing. Great. Now whoever it was would be expecting something. Soon after a new tugging started, this time on his left wrist. "I guarantee, you let a hand loose and I _will_ kill you," he said coldly.

_Do you always talk this much when you're alone and caught at a disadvantage?_ a familiar voice asked from inside his head. The woman's head that it belonged to poked out from under the branch his arm was attached to and grinned at him. _Remember, think it._

_What are you doing here, Sabrina? How did you get away from Vega?_

She gave him a wink and disappeared behind the tree again. _I didn't get away from Vega. I got away from his pet mage Brandon Fitzgerald. And I had help._

_Venkman?_

_No. Hawk._

"What?" he choked out in a startled whisper.

"Shhh! I'm not muffling these chains with my vest just so you can give me away! Think!"

_What do you mean Hawk?_ His mental tone was a bit snippy.

_His ghost, Dillinger. He hasn't been able to rest since Spiritech fried his bike and blew him up. He's just been waiting for his chance to get back at them, and this is it. By helping us, he finds peace._ With that the restraints around the sniper's left wrist fell away, muffled by Sabrina's vest.

_So where is he?_ Brown eyes darted around as though he expected yet another wispy blast from the past to jump out at him.

She started working the now-dirty piece of clothing around the remaining chain on her teammate's right wrist. _Following Fitzgerald. Said he wanted to keep an eye on him. The Spiritech lackey made Peter and I witness a spell that brought a gate here, unlocked. He said that once the final component is released the door will open and a demon lord will be able to come through. I had a feeling you were pretty central to that component._

_How about Lau and the Ghostbusters?_

_No idea. Peter went to see if he could find them and maybe get himself armed. He should be headed this way any time now._ She managed to pick the lock on the other wrist and the chain fell away. _Hold that metal strap while I get the lock. That way it won't fall._

_What about arming __**me**__?_ Dillinger asked, offended.

_Up until about ten minutes ago I was just as much a captive as you are. I don't even know if Peter will be able to come up with something for himself._

The lock came free and Dillinger pulled the restraint off his head. He turned to face his teammate. "We don't have a lot to work with, do we?"

Sabrina sighed. "No, we don't. Although I think if we can just keep you away from Vega until after midnight we should be okay."

A golden glow suddenly appeared close to the clearing, coming nearer. "I don't think that's an option," Dillinger said ruefully. "Go back to hiding. You can be my ace in the hole again."

"And here I always thought I was more like the Queen of Spades." The black-haired woman shrugged and silently maneuvered into the brush behind the tree that had held Dillinger.

Vega and Fitzgerald were in the open space when the sniper turned his head back around. "So the prodigal son has broken free of his bonds. How quaint." The ghost wore an amused look. "It won't do you any good, you know. You're _mine_."

"You wish," Dillinger cracked back, starting to move away from the pair.

Fitzgerald quickly cast the same spell he had earlier, and the E-Branch agent found himself frozen in place. "Not so fast," the blond man said smugly. "I believe you'll be coming with us, Captain Dillinger. Follow me." He began to walk back toward the circle where the glowing gateway was waiting, the sniper following with a furious scowl, their trajectory heading through the open area of the park instead of the trees and brush along the edge that Sabrina had used to shield herself.

Vega trailed behind them, a gloating look of triumph on his face. The psychic watched them go by from her hiding place and took off back the way she came, hiding as best she could. Fortunately the ghost and the mage were too assured in their imminent victory to think of anyone tracking them.

* * *

"Are you picking up Peter at all?" Winston asked the stocky occultist as they continued to follow the stream of ghosts, picking them off one by one as they went.

"Yes, but not strongly. It's like he's being shielded by something." Ray made a few adjustments to the meter. "My best guess is he's near the center of the park, where the rest of the disturbances are."

Egon looked up briefly from the screen of his own meter. "PKE levels have just increased dramatically," he announced. "There is a gate about to be opened here."

"You wouldn't happen to mean where all those lights are coming from, would you?" Lau asked, pointing north at the golden glow that shone there.

"That would be it," the physicist confirmed. "We need to get over there and make sure it doesn't open. Who knows what will be coming through?"

"I don't think it's a natural occurrence," Ray mused. "I think there's a spell caster who's trying to open the gate. There's nothing in the literature that even hints at something like this happening for at least six or seven months."

"That and we haven't had the usual busy period before one of these end of the world events," Winston added.

Lau was staring at them strangely. "Six or seven _months_? _Usual_? How often do you guys deal with... never mind. I don't want to know. I don't. I deal with the basement. That's more than enough for me." He cleared his throat and shifted his proton pack. "So, is it just me, or are we running out of ghosts to follow?"

The other three men looked around and found that the Chinese man was right. There were only five entities left moving slowly forward, like they were dreading what they were going to find when they got to their destination. "Finally, something's going our way," Winston enthused. "Let's get these guys then take care of this idiot who wants to call up demons in the middle of Union Square."

Before anyone could respond, the subjects of discussion did a sudden about-face and flew straight at them, screaming something no one could make out. The four men shared a quick look then dropped some of their last traps, waiting with throwers drawn. They found they didn't have to fire a shot. The yells and howls became clearer as the ghosts got closer, pleas for protection from the mighty Gramzen and the wrath of Vega. The men shrugged and activated the traps, the spirits diving in voluntarily.

"I hate to say this," Lau said once they had hooked the traps toward the back of their belts and continued on toward the light, "but if these things have decided being locked up forever is better than whatever we're headed toward, what does that say for _it_?"

"Maybe they're easily scared," Winston offered with a grin. Lau couldn't help but return it with a small laugh.

"Gramzen is one of the demons on the pared-down list I came up with. He's what's called a soul-eater. He's been known to let lesser entities use some of his power to make it easier to lure mortals to him so that he can trick them into summoning him, after which he absorbs their souls. He's nasty, but we should be able to handle him, as long as the gate isn't opened to his home plane," Ray said, having abandoned his PKE meter to double check what he remembered with the hand-held electronic Tobin's Spirit Guide. "His power is directly linked with it."

"But what happens if the gate is opened?" Winston asked, growing serious.

"Things will become difficult," Egon answered.

Lau blinked. "That's an understatement, isn't it?" he asked warily.

Ray grinned as he put the Tobin's away. "When he warned Peter and me not to cross the streams he said it would be bad."

"Now _that_ effect I've heard about. Bad, huh?" Egon nodded with a slight twitch to the corners of his mouth. "Let me rephrase then. That's a _gross_ understatement." Lau shook his head ruefully.

A blood-curdling scream cut through the night, followed shortly by a blinding flash of golden light shooting into the sky. When their eyes cleared, the four men could see a shimmering shape circling in the air above what they had already determined to be the center of the disturbance. Egon quickly lifted his meter. "That's our Class Seven, gentlemen. Gramzen. The gateway has been opened."

"You said it would be _difficult_ if the door was opened!" Lau cried as they began to run toward where the demon was landing.

"And it will be, Mister Long. It most definitely will."

They reached the outside of a pentagram etched into the earth for protection just as a large humanoid creature with shining golden scales, a slithering serpent-like tail, and a huge mouth filled with pointy teeth landed in front of an ornate glowing doorway of light, the doors flung wide open. Its fingers ended in claws and two horns grew from its head. Towering over even Egon, the tallest of the group, by at least a foot and a half, it leered down at them, drool dripping from its fangs.

"Boy, am I glad you grabbed the modified destabilizer, Egon," Ray said quietly, his brown eyes wide as he took in the sight before him.

"You and me both, homeboy," Winston concurred.

"Make that three," Lau added. "So what do we do now? Stare at it until it goes away?"

"Pitiful humans," the thing ground out around its mouth full of teeth. "I am not going anywhere. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for you. And I shall relish the taste of your pain and suffering as I devour your souls!" A nimbus of light suddenly flared to life around the creature as one of its hands shot out like lightning, aiming for Lau. Only his well-trained reflexes kept him from being caught, and just barely.

"Don't let him touch you while the light surrounds him!" Egon cried, moving back and glancing at his meter quickly before letting it hang off his belt. "That's how his power works!"

The four of them started dashing around the circle, careful to never cross it, keeping Gramzen always in sight. "Any idea how to send him back where he came from? He's already said he's not going willingly!" Winston called, just missing a slash from the demon.

"We have to close the gate!" Ray yelled over the growing noise as a mystical wind began to swirl around the open gateway. "That's his power source!"

"But how do we do it?" Lau asked. "I heard you crossed the streams to drive Gozer back - we're not going to have to do that, are we?"

"No," Egon answered. "I think I have an answer, but it's going to require precision firing and coordination."

"Hey, I may not be Dillinger, but I'm not a bad shot. And I've been getting practice with this thing for the last half hour. I'm up for this!" Lau protested.

The blond physicist nodded. "All right then. Lau, aim for the center of the base of the gateway, where the doors would meet if they were closed. Ray, take the upper left corner and Winston, the right. That should cause the portal to collapse in on itself." He dove for cover as Gramzen swung at him with both claws, one shot coming so close it left behind a tear in the darker blue jumpsuit.

"But how do we get rid of Gramzen?" Winston asked.

"You do not!" the demon yelled, the force of the blasting voice blowing them all off their feet.

"The destabilizer," Egon continued his explanation as they all scrambled to their feet once again. "With its beam reducing his solidity, the dimensional displacement caused by the disintegration of the gate should draw him back to his plane of origin."

"If that's what you say will work, that's what we'll do," Lau said with a forceful nod. "And you can explain it to me later," he muttered under his breath.

The four of them took up their positions. "On my mark," Egon called as the monster roared. "One, two, three... mark!"

They all fired at once, each of them hitting their target square. The energy from the streams caused the image of the double doors to waver like a mirage in the desert, and Gramzen thrashed in the beam of the destabilizer. Finally the doorway began to shrink, the beams following it down, and they could feel the reversal of the wind's direction. It became a powerful force, drawing things toward the portal, including the struggling demon lord, who snarled and cursed, continually attempting to strike at his captors. And then, at last, the creature was sucked through, drawing the rest of the gateway with him. There was a brief moment of silence where the Ghostbusters and Lau turned off their throwers, and then the circle exploded.


	7. Chapter 7

_Wow! What a boost in hits! Thanks for coming along on this ride - we're just about at the end of it. Enjoy this latest chapter, and feel free to let me know what you think!_

* * *

Peter dashed through the trees on a course toward the south end of the park after leaving Sabrina, hoping to find some sign that the guys and Lau were nearby. Fortunately he didn't run into anyone else, human or ghost, and finally broke through to come out onto Fourteenth Street. He looked around quickly, noticing the unusually light traffic and Ecto-1 parked just down the road.

"Finally, something's going right tonight," he muttered. "Now if only they brought an extra pack or two..."

He ran up to the car and peeked into the back end, finding that fate had decided to be kind. There was one pack left - his own Old Betsy - with a number of blinking traps beside it. "Yes!" he exulted quietly, pulling his keys out of his pocket and quickly retrieving his weapon of choice. Once he had donned the device, he moved to the front seat, slipping inside to use the radio to contact the others since they were nowhere in sight.

"Guys? It's Peter. I'm at Ecto right now. Where are you?"

All he heard was static.

Peter muttered a vicious oath and decided to try one last time, just in case they could hear him but not respond. "Okay, guys, I'm going to keep moving. Just in case you're hearing this, Dillinger's being held toward the northwest corner of the park, and Sabrina and I are going to go get him. There's a circle etched into the ground somewhere near the center, I think, so watch yourselves. You won't be able to miss it - there's a huge glowing doorway in the middle of it. There's one last thing they have to do to open it. We've got to stop them. Catch you soon. Peter out."

He replaced the radio and resecured the vehicle, then adjusted his pack slightly and took off back the way he came. The guys could take care of themselves, but Sabrina was going to need his help and probably sooner than anyone thought.

* * *

Sabrina watched from the trees as Fitzgerald and Vega walked Dillinger toward the huge pentagram in the center of the park, the sniper growling something at his captors that she couldn't quite make out due to her distance. She was surprised when the ghost called a halt to their progress about halfway to their destination. "Do it now," he told the black-robed man.

"What?" Fitzgerald asked, confused. "But we don't have that much farther before we reach the circle. Gramzen is waiting for us."

"I know he is, but I think I'd like to arrive wearing the gift he's providing me. I'm just itching to try it on." Vega grinned evilly as he eyed up Dillinger's frozen form.

"If I could flip you the bird right now, I would. Just want you to know," the government agent said sarcastically.

"Cast it, Fitzgerald."

"But I thought..." The sorcerer sighed. "Fine. But I'm going to go closer to the circle. As long as I can still see you everything will be fine, and I want to be there when Gramzen enters our world. He will be certain to reward me for opening the gate for him."

Vega's expression was amused. "If that's what you want, go ahead. One way or the other, I get what _I_ want." He grinned again at Dillinger.

Sabrina's brows creased in thought as she pondered the conversation she had just overheard. As Fitzgerald moved to his new position alone, just barely visible from where she remained hidden, she realized there was something more to this than just killing her teammate slowly and painfully. She just didn't know exactly what it was.

Ancient arcane words began to echo through the air, Fitzgerald's voice droning on melodramatically as it rose and fell with each phrase. Sabrina tensed, wishing they had brought Damien with them. Their team's arcanist would have at least some idea of what to do. She was just lost.

The words paused after a few moments. "Do it now while I finish the last two sections of the ritual!" the blond wizard cried out. "The timing should work out perfectly!"

Vega, who had been pacing during the first half of the spell, stopped in his tracks and grinned ferally at Dillinger. "Now revenge is truly mine," he snarled, building up a huge psi blast in his right hand. "I've already hit you twice with this, Dillinger," he said in a triumphantly menacing tone. "And you know what they say... three strikes and you're out." The frozen sniper could only growl futilely at the gloating ghost before him.

Sabrina gasped as Vega prepared to fire. Running forward, she threw up a psychic shield around her friend just as the deadly blast came in, watching as once again it caused the energy to flow harmlessly around the startled agent. "I don't think so, Vega!" she cried.

She stopped dead in her tracks as he spun to face her. "Marconi! I should have known you were the one that freed him! And now I'll do what I should have done at the library!" Another psi blast built up quickly and flew at the shocked psychologist before she had time to completely regain her balance.

"No!" a new voice called as a brown-colored blur slammed into the black-haired woman and took the blow for her. His scream of pain temporarily drowned out the arcane chanting that continued on nearer to the circle.

Sabrina flew forward and managed to roll with the fall, somersaulting back to her feet in one smooth motion. She quickly turned and looked at the man who had saved her. "Peter!" she cried, running back to him. "Why did you do that? Are you all right?" She knelt beside the sprawled form, brushing the bangs off his forehead as he lay on his side, his position supported by the proton pack on his back.

"Hey, I'm supposed to be a hero," the Ghostbuster coughed out. "That's what heroes do."

"You idiot," she said in return, glancing over her shoulder at where Vega was now slowly advancing on the still-frozen Dillinger. "He could have killed you."

"He said it took three times to do that. Now get over there and save your partner."

"I'm not sure I can leave you, Peter. I think you need medical attention."

"Probably, but that's not the point. Go finish your assignment, Agent Marconi." His pain-filled green gaze held her emotionally-torn blue one until she started to rise. Then a smile softened Peter's features and his head slumped to the ground, his eyelids closing.

Sabrina gazed at him a second longer to make sure he was breathing then turned and hurried toward the eminent confrontation between the two trained killers. Her mind was too jumbled to concentrate on another shield, so she did the only thing she could think of. Just as Vega was about to put his fist, surrounded by a nimbus of psi energy, into Dillinger's stomach, Sabrina dove in front of the intended victim, taking the full force of the blast right to her diaphragm. That same force blew her backwards, pushing her into Dillinger and sending the both of them backward about ten feet to land in an interesting jumble of Sabrina's limbs over and around Dillinger's stiff, unyielding body.

"Okay, that hurt," the sniper muttered as his teammate struggled to keep breathing. Just then, a soul-wrenching scream cut through the night, making everything pause. "What was that?" he asked as he found that suddenly he could move again. He shifted Sabrina off of him as gently as he could considering her condition, and quickly got himself into a crouched position beside her.

"I couldn't tell you," Vega replied as a blinding flash of golden light shot into the air from the vicinity of the gateway. "But I will tell you this. I'm going to kill you, Dillinger, and I'm going to enjoy every second!"

Dillinger dodged a small ball of energy that exploded behind him. Before he could move away from his downed teammate, he felt a tug on his coat. "Peter," she gasped when he looked down at her. "Proton pack."

His eyes began to gleam wickedly and he grinned to match. "Gotcha," he muttered, then moved out of the way of another blast.

Sidestepping another volley of energy bursts, the dark-haired man weaved his way over to the fallen Ghostbuster and started to tug on the pack. "Un...fasten the...straps," Peter managed to breathe without opening his eyes. "I'll...roll forward."

Dillinger blinked at the unexpected response and did as suggested. "I didn't realize you were still with us," he said as he ducked another shot. Vega's furious rage echoed through the night.

"Party's...not over," the brown-haired man whispered, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"Dang right it's not," the E-Branch agent confirmed decisively. "I haven't caught him yet." He freed the pack and pulled it on as Peter rolled onto his front, his head turned toward Sabrina. Again he evaded the explosions of energy as he shifted position to keep the stray shots away from the prone psychologists. He guessed that anger was causing Vega's lack of accuracy, but then again, he _was_ just that good. Dillinger grinned at the thought.

"That's not going to do you any good, Dillinger," Vega said tauntingly, the evil gleam in his eyes not quite on this side of sanity. "I have a demon backing me. My power is limitless!"

"Haven't you heard size doesn't matter?" Dillinger shot back. "It's how you use it that counts."

"We'll see about that," the ghost said, amused. "The power in that weapon will eventually run out, and you will eventually tire. Then we'll see how you use it."

The sniper's response wasn't in words. He fired, hitting Vega square in the chest. The ghost merely crossed his arms under the shot and smirked. "See? Your little squirt gun doesn't have any effect on me. I have the protection of a demon lord. This is _nothing_."

"We'll see about that," Dillinger muttered under his breath, trying to give the stream a quick flick to catch his opponent in the eyes. It moved the way he wanted it to, but it had no effect.

It was then that the circle exploded. Both antagonists managed to remain standing as the shock wave washed over them, and Dillinger somehow kept the beam in place. To both their surprise, Vega roiled with the force of the proton stream, it catching him and keeping him in place. "No!" he cried, fiercely writhing in the ray of energy, nearly breaking free in his desperation. "This can't be happening!"

"But it _is_, Vega! I guess your demon lord buddy didn't want to back a lost cause!" Dillinger's grin split his face.

* * *

From her position in the dirt to the side of the struggle, Sabrina watched as her teammate fought to keep Vega under wraps, waging a fight of her own to keep breathing regularly. Pushing that aside for the time being as less important than the task at hand, she somehow summoned the strength to get to her feet and jog staggeringly over to where Peter lay still. She lowered herself carefully to the ground beside him, reaching for something on his belt.

"I usually prefer...somewhere more private," Peter whispered as Sabrina got what she was looking for and prepared to rise again.

The black-haired woman fought not to laugh. "Don't do that, Peter. I can't afford to lose it right now." Her voice was breathy and broken.

"You shouldn't...be up at all," he replied. "But you are...anyway. Just come back...in one piece. We haven't...had our date yet."

"You got it, Peter. Just remember, our side's winning." She got up and moved on.

* * *

Dillinger was trying to work out how to keep the stream on Vega while he worked the trap attached to the pack free to toss out. He couldn't wait to see this thorn in his side go down. A movement out of the corner of his right eye caught his attention, and he spared a quick glance just in time to see Sabrina jog up and throw a trap out under the fiercely writhing ghost.

"Trap out!" she called, closing the space between them.

He turned his head to fully face her, fury transforming his features into something cold and frightening. She smiled as she tossed the foot pedal at his feet. "Put him away, Dillinger. Finally for the last time."

His expression cleared as he turned back to his main objective and Sabrina wrapped both her arms around her midsection, her breathing short and shallow. Both watched their long-time nemesis realize that he had lost, this time for good. "No!" Vega cried. "This isn't over! You're mine, Dillinger! You and Marconi are mine!"

"Tell someone who cares," Dillinger said coldly as he brought his foot down on the pedal, the doors of the trap springing open and the wedge of bright white light enveloping the still-struggling spirit. His and Sabrina's faces were expressionless as they witnessed Vega's last moments of freedom in the world of the living.

With one last wordless howl, Vincent Vega disappeared into the trap. Dillinger turned to Sabrina, an evil grin blooming on his features, to see a completely relieved smile on hers. The psychologist's expression softened to something undefinable then went blank as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she crumpled to the ground in a boneless heap. The sniper gasped and dropped to his knees beside her, holstering the thrower as he did. She wasn't breathing.

* * *

Lau's hazel eyes fluttered open and he groaned. "That was a doozy," he muttered, raising himself to his elbows and looking around. He saw the forms of the three Ghostbusters strewn about around him, Ray to his left and Egon and Winston to his right, all of them still unconscious.

The Chinese man dragged himself to his feet and trudged over to where the black man lay, having thought he saw some movement. "Hey, Winston," he called gently, kneeling down beside him. "It's okay to get up. The big, bad demon's gone now."

A soft moan drifted up from the supine man. "He better be after all that," Winston declared, a hand reaching for his head as his eyelids opened to reveal slightly dazed dark brown eyes. "I don't like the idea of going through an explosion just to find out the bad guy made it, too."

"Yeah, well, he wasn't the only one we had to worry about. Vega's still out there, and he's got Dillinger and Sabrina."

"And Peter." The dazed look faded away. "Are you okay, Lau?"

"I'm just fine. But we better go check on the others if you're up for it."

"You bet I am. Help me up." Lau offered him a hand and tugged Winston to his feet. Then the two of them moved over to Egon, who was just beginning to stir.

"That was _not_ pleasant," the physicist muttered as he rolled to the side and pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"Better than some of the things we've dealt with," Winston said with a smile. "You okay, Egon?"

"I believe I may be suffering from a mild concussion and a number of scrapes and bruises, but other than that I'm fine. What about you?"

"About the same," the black man responded as Lau pulled the blond man to his feet. "We need to check on Ray and then get our three missing people back. The gate's gone."

Egon pulled out his PKE meter. It beeped slightly, the arms moving upward, but nowhere near the way it had reacted earlier. "You are correct, Winston. The gate has indeed been closed and Gramzen forced back. The only spiritual activity I'm detecting now is Vega."

"Is he here?" a weak voice asked from the last country heard from. Ray managed to maneuver himself to a sitting position, pausing to regain his balance before refocusing on the others.

"No, slightly to the northwest," Egon replied. "Are you all right, Raymond?"

"I will be. But we need to get Peter, Sabrina, and Dillinger back. Then we can worry about our little problems."

"You guys are amazing," Lau said with a small smile and a shake of his head. "So let's go."

The four of them gathered their wits and moved out in the direction the meter suggested Vega was in. Just as they reached the opposite edge of the circle, a wedge of white light shot into the sky, and soon after disappeared. "That was a ghost trap!" Ray exclaimed.

"I am no longer detecting any signs of Vega," Egon declared.

"Well, that's saying something then, isn't it?" Lau commented with a cheesy grin. Then something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. "You guys go ahead. I think I see something over there I want to check out."

"You sure you don't want back up?" Winston offered.

"I'll be fine. The only one left if you guys are right would be whoever etched that circle and cast the spell to let Gramzen out. And if that's him, he's not much of a threat. Bodies on the ground like that usually aren't."

"Call out if you need us," Egon reminded them as the three Ghostbusters continued on.

"Like a foghorn," Lau assured them, separating and moving to his own destination.

Egon, Ray, and Winston rushed over to where the others were when they caught sight of someone wearing a proton pack kneeling beside someone who was stretched out on the ground. Thinking it was Peter, they were surprised to find Dillinger giving Sabrina mouth to mouth resuscitation and their friend lying off to the side, unconscious. "Dillinger?" Ray asked as the three of them came to a startled halt. "What happened?"

"Call the paramedics," he gasped out. "I'll explain later."

"The mobile phone should be working in Ecto," Egon said as he quickly moved over to Peter's side. He found the psychologist still breathing and wondered what could have taken him down.

"Spengs?" a whispered voice, barely audible, asked from the ground in front of the physicist. "Is that you?"

"Yes, Peter. I'm here." Relief shone through Egon's tone.

"Everyone okay?"

"Dillinger is still working on Sabrina, but we're about to get the paramedics. Everyone else is fine."

"Oh, good. Make sure they check me out, too, okay, Spengs?" With that, Peter finally passed out altogether.

"Of course, Peter," Egon said gently, brushing his best friend's bangs away from his forehead.

Lau ran up to them just as Winston was about to leave for the mobile phone in the car. "Well, it looks like Spiritech's magic-user is out for the count. I called the paramedics when I found him. Things don't look good." He finally caught sight of the two kneeling men and the activities happening around the blinking trap. "What the hell? Sabrina! Dillinger, what's going on?"

"Mouth to mouth, Lau," the sniper quipped a bit breathlessly as he came up from giving her one more breath. "What's it look like?"

"Thank you for calling the EMTs, Lau," Ray said, moving over to spell Dillinger. "Now we don't have to run back to the car."

"I forgot you guys had those things with you," Winston said.

"You weren't the only one, Winston," Egon said, still holding Peter's hand.

"Me too," Ray said briefly, having taken over for the dark-haired man in the black trenchcoat.

"Well, they got called so don't worry about it," Dillinger said from his seat on the ground next to Ray.

Lau looked around seriously for a moment. "So now all that there's left to do is wait."


	8. Chapter 8

_And here we are at the end of the road. Thank you to everyone who chose to tag along on the ride - I really appreciate each and every one of you! So now we'll wrap up all this excitement - enjoy, and feel free to let me know what you think!_

* * *

The paramedics showed up in due order, quickly going to work on the still-unbreathing Sabrina and transporting her and the unconscious Peter to the nearest hospital. The others followed in Ecto-1, at least four of them worried about their friends and all of them bewildered by the fact that no one could find the body of the mage Lau had discovered after the explosion.

Hours passed with no word. Janine was called and came in around dawn, joining the vigil with hugs for her friends and sympathetic looks for the two E-Branch agents. They had been told that it appeared Peter was suffering from an odd form of mild electrocution while the layman's description of Sabrina's problem was that her diaphragm was short-circuiting. "How in the heck did that happen?" Janine asked after the doctor had left the six of them alone once more in the waiting room.

"Spells," Dillinger said shortly. "Peter took one for Sabrina after she shielded me from a shot that was supposed to kill me, and then Sabrina took Vega's next try at me. It nailed her right at the base of the chest, and then she was up and running around not long afterward. I think she pushed herself too hard too soon."

"And now she's paying the price," Lau said, frustrated.

"The paramedics got her breathing started again in the ambulance, and the doctor said she should be fine," Ray said encouragingly, sympathy thick in his tone.

"And Peter should be fine, too, once he basically sleeps this off," Winston added.

"But who knows about brain damage," Lau argued. "She went a long time with other people breathing for her. And even if physically she's all right, what about psychically?"

"Only time will tell, Lau," Egon said sympathetically.

"What's that bag you brought with you, Janine?" Ray asked in an attempt to gently change to subject for a little while.

"It's Sabrina's. It had all those profiles and files. I wasn't sure if the E-Branch team would have time to stop by the firehouse after they were done here so I brought it with me. I hope that's all right." The redheaded woman directed the last comment to Lau.

"That's perfectly fine, Janine. I'm probably going to get Sabrina transferred out of here as soon as she's stabilized, and one less trip will help. Thanks."

Another hour later brought a doctor to say Peter was capable of receiving visitors. Egon, Ray, and Winston jumped on the chance, and quickly followed the man to their friend's room. Janine looked at the two remaining men speculatively as she stood to follow. "Aren't you worried about Sabrina, Dillinger?" she asked the sniper curiously, watching him sit rather impassively next to his commander.

"She'll either be all right or she won't. There's nothing I can do about it now."

"Yeah, but..."

"Don't bother, Janine," Lau interrupted. "That's just the way Dillinger is. I guess you could say he was raised that way."

"That's sad," Janine said quietly before walking away to join her employers.

* * *

Finally, about ten o'clock in the morning, Lau and Dillinger were allowed to see Sabrina. They found her lying in her own room, her coloring pale and her eyelids shut. She wore a nasal cannula for oxygen, and monitors were lined up on the other side of the bed. "Wow, she looks so small," Lau whispered as the two men stepped inside.

"She looks like she belongs in a hospital," Dillinger corrected.

"Well, then I guess it's a good thing I'm in one, isn't it?" a weak whispering voice said lightly. Sapphire blue eyes fluttered open and Sabrina turned her head slightly to look at her visitors. "Hi, guys."

"Hey, Sabrina," Lau said, his mood immediately lightening. "How are you doing?"

"Breathing is still an effort, but the addiction's still there. I'll be fine."

"It's good to see all my effort didn't go to waste then," Dillinger said with a grin.

"CPR or just mouth to mouth?" A black eyebrow rose.

"Just mouth to mouth."

"What is it with me and chest injuries around Vega anyway?"

"Be glad it wasn't another half clip."

"You do have a point there."

"You really shouldn't be talking so much," Lau admonished sternly.

"You're asking a lot of her, Lau." Sabrina stuck her tongue out at the smiling sniper.

A light knock came at the door. Dillinger tensed and a hand went to a gun, but Lau stilled the action. "Who is it?" the commander called nonchalantly.

"We heard there was a happening party down this way and wanted to crash it," a familiar voice said from the other side of the door.

"Peter!" Sabrina said, a happy smile lighting up her features. "Don't just stand there, Lau, let them in!"

"As long as you stop talking so much!" The Chinese man moved over to the door as the other man in the room relaxed, opening it to reveal the Ghostbusters and Janine standing there, Peter in front of the bunch in a wheelchair. "So come in, come in. I've never seen such polite party crashers before." Lau's grin was wide as he stepped aside and let the newcomers by him.

Egon pushed Peter over to the black-haired woman's bedside. "He wouldn't leave us alone until we agreed to let him come see you," the physicist said wryly. "I told him we had to wait until you were transferred out of intensive care."

"He wasn't happy about that," Winston added.

"Is there some reason I should have been?" Peter asked indignantly. "This lady stuck with me through some rough times and I find out she's been hurt badly enough to be in the ICU. I wanted to make sure she was all right."

"But, Peter, the doctors told you she would be," Ray reminded him.

"Like he ever takes that at face value," Janine said with a roll of her eyes. "He's just as bad if not worse with the three of you. If he doesn't see it with his own eyes it's not good enough."

"I'll be fine," Sabrina whispered. "I've heard Lau's transferring me out of here and into the care of our doctors in Colorado. I'll be back on my feet in no time."

"You better be, lady," Peter admonished gently. "You owe me a date."

Sabrina laughed breathlessly. "That's right. I do, don't I? Will you wait for me?"

The brown-haired man grinned. "You bet I will. It'll just give me time to plan something spectacular, a real Venkman extravaganza."

"Be frightened, Sabrina," Egon warned her. "Lesser women than you have crumbled before the debacle that is the Venkman extravaganza."

"Then I'll probably have fun. Lesser women than me have crumbled before a lot of the things I've done in my life, and I'm having a blast."

"A woman after my own heart!" Peter clutched both hands to his chest dramatically.

"I'm glad you're willing to chance it for a completely different reason," Ray said, his smile wide and his light brown eyes sparkling. "That means you'll be back for a visit and we get to see you again. I was kind of worried about that."

"Thanks, Ray." Sabrina eyed him speculatively. "I just wish there was something we could do for you guys since you were so much help. We couldn't have done it without you."

"Hey, you're paying us, right?" Peter looked over at Lau, who chuckled and nodded as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Then that's more than enough compensation." He winked at the male members of the E-Branch team.

"I suppose," the supine woman said, her voice trailing off.

"Are we tiring you?" Egon asked quickly.

"No, no, I'm fine. I can't always get a lot of air behind what I'm saying, but I'm okay. Say, I didn't get a chance to look through your library at Ghostbuster Central. Have you guys heard of the parapsychologist Victor Lazlo?" Her teammates looked at her suspiciously.

"Sure!" Ray enthused. "He put out some good books before his disappearance in 1984. I can't seem to keep my hands on any copies though. Something always seems to happen to them. But I've always liked them."

"I referenced a number of his papers while I was writing my parapsychology dissertation. Why do you ask?" Egon queried.

"A lot of people I've talked to haven't heard of him, and I like his stuff, too. I just wanted to see if some of the foremost authorities on the supernatural thought as highly of him as I do." It was Peter's turn to look at her suspiciously. "But I have a question for everybody. What happened to Fitzgerald?"

"Who's Fitzgerald?" Winston asked.

"The mage that drew that circle and summoned the demon," Peter explained. "You know, that's an awfully good question. Didn't you guys say that no one found his body when the paramedics showed up?"

"If that's who the lump was I found between the circle and you guys, then yeah," Lau agreed.

"He must not have been as down for the count as you thought, Lau," Dillinger commented.

"And what happened to Hawk?" Peter asked.

"Hawk?" Egon repeated. "As in Sabrina and Dillinger's commander when they first met Vega? Are you saying you encountered his ghost?"

"Yeah. He helped us out a couple of times. He left when Vega teleported us to Union Square Park though. We never saw him after he set us loose."

"Fitzgerald handcuffed us together around a tree after he summoned the gate to Gramzen's realm," Sabrina explained. "Hawk picked the locks for us."

"Do you think he dispersed when Vega was captured?" Ray asked.

"I don't know, Tex. I just don't know," Peter said with a shrug.

"Um, no, I'd have to say dispersion wasn't in the cards," a new voice said from the doorway.

They all turned to face the newcomer, Dillinger reaching again for a gun. A tall man with straight, chin-length blond hair and steel grey eyes closed the door behind him and leaned against it. He wore a plain navy blue sweatshirt, faded jeans, and an older pair of tennis shoes. He smiled as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Who are you?" Winston asked suspiciously, recognizing the man that had informed the search party that Vega awaited them near the library and maneuvering between the new man and Sabrina and Peter. He was joined by Lau and Ray, Egon already being there.

"Well, the body says Brandon Fitzgerald, but the spirit says something completely different." He looked down at himself. "It's a taller, younger model actually, but fit." He looked back up at the astonished crowd with an impish smile.

"Hawk?" Sabrina asked breathlessly, eyes narrowed in confusion.

"None other."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Dillinger asked, narrowing his eyes and making a final adjustment to his aim, drawing a bead on the man at the door.

"I'm not sure what I could tell you that you couldn't accuse me of reading somewhere. Fitzgerald was a Spiritech agent."

Ray and Egon shared a quick look before the occultist grabbed the PKE meter from his belt and activated it. "I recorded all the biorhythms I found in the park when we were tracking Peter." He scanned around the room, matching Sabrina, Dillinger, and Lau's to the appropriate signal and filtering them out. "Now that I have everyone I know taken out of the equation, that leaves the mage, Fitzgerald. He was the only other living person in the park." Ray pointed the device at the suspect they were all facing.

"Well, Ray?" Egon asked expectantly.

"The readings I'm getting don't match what I have saved for Fitzgerald. Are you guys sure this is him?" Ray asked Peter, Sabrina, and Dillinger.

"I'd recognize that cocky little smile anywhere," Peter said, his head poking out from around Egon's waist. Sabrina and Dillinger silently nodded their agreement.

The blond physicist leaned over and looked at the meter's display. "Hmm," he said thoughtfully before lifting his own. He pushed a few buttons and turned a few knobs, then grabbed a calculator out of one the pockets in his jumpsuit and keyed in some figures. "Ladies and gentlemen, I believe this man is telling the truth," Egon announced as he put both devices away.

"How do you know?" Janine asked with wonder.

"I did some correlations between the biorhythms Ray is picking up now and the readings from the entities we encountered at both the library and Union Square Park. There is a definite parallel between one of the unidentified readings and the ones registered from this man."

"And what does that mean?" Lau asked.

"We have always theorized that there would be a connection between the biorhythms a person had while they were alive and the PKE signature as a ghost. We've seen a few examples, not enough to truly confirm or deny the hypothesis, but they do suggest we're going in the right direction. If this really is Hawk in a living body, his biorhythms would correlate to his PKE signature - and they do. We never picked up Fitzgerald as a ghost, thus we wouldn't have his spiritual energies on file, negating any possibility of making a connection." Egon raised his eyebrows as he concluded his explanation as if to ask if there were any further questions.

"So you're saying that Hawk has taken up residence in Fitzgerald's body?" Dillinger asked, still training his gun on the man. "How did that happen?"

"I'm sure you knew he was casting a spell in your direction, right?" Hawk began to explain.

"Vega told him to do it," Sabrina said softly. "He said something about wanting to wear his gift when he met Gramzen."

"Exactly. I had no idea what was really going on, except that Vega wanted it done, which meant it couldn't be good for anybody involved, especially Dillinger. So, at the last minute, I used what psi force I could come up with and reflected it back on him. Fitzgerald screamed, I felt this weird tugging, and the next thing I knew I was blinking my eyes and breathing. I sat up and saw Lau walking away. That's when I decided I better find out what the hell was going on before presenting myself to anybody. The last thing I needed was to get quizzed by someone I didn't know, or gunned down by someone I _did_."

"So what _did_ happen?" Ray asked, thoroughly intrigued. Egon as well was listening with intense scientific curiosity.

"From what I've been able to piece together, the spell Fitzgerald was trying to cast would have switched Dillinger's soul with Vega's spirit. In other words, it would have been Vega running around in Dillinger's body while Dillinger's soul would have been sacrificed to Gramzen to open the gate. When I reflected it back, the transfer took place between Fitzgerald and the closest free spirit - me." Hawk sighed. "Unfortunately that means that it was Fitzgerald's soul that opened the gateway and got obliterated in the bargain."

"He brought it on himself, Hawk," Ray said sadly yet sympathetically. "You can't play with magic like that and not be able to accept the consequences. I've been studying it for years - that's just how it works."

"I know. I'm sure it will fade with time, but I'm still feeling a bit of guilt about being the cause of all that. We're talking about the extinction of a _soul_."

"It'll be all right, Hawk. And I'll help you if you need it," Sabrina said in her wispy voice. "But the big question is: what are you going to do now?"

"Yeah, I'm sure living again hadn't played a big part in your future plans up to this point," Peter added.

"You do realize that Spiritech has no idea what happened to Fitzgerald, don't you?" Dillinger asked speculatively as he finally lowered his weapon.

"I was thinking of that myself, yes," Hawk replied.

"That would suggest a prime opportunity to play the perfect double agent," Lau mused, grinning. "I can't think of anything they could do that would see through this."

"There are a few spells that might be able to see past it all," Ray thought quickly. "But if enough time went by, it would be harder to tell."

Hawk grinned. "I knew there was a reason I was so willing to take my chances and come to you. I need someone to vouch for me with E-Branch. If I play my cards right, I can possibly help topple Spiritech from the inside, and I'd love nothing more."

"With the Ghostbusters' science backing _us_ up, you've got your voucher," Lau said firmly. "We want that, too."

"Are you guys okay with that?" Sabrina asked the four jumpsuit-wearing men.

"Now that I've seen what Spiritech is capable of, I have no problems with that whatsoever," Ray declared staunchly.

"I think the rest of us would go along with that," Peter said with a smile. Egon, Winston, and Janine nodded their agreement.

"I am going to need some training with magic, however," Hawk said thoughtfully. "Fitzgerald is supposed to be a sorcerer, and that wasn't my thing my last go around."

"I don't think we can set you up with an E-Branch arcanist. If they catch wind of that they'll get suspicious," Lau said, thinking hard.

"Hey, what about me?" Ray offered. "I know we've been seen working with you, but if we work it right we can make it look like Fitzgerald has me fooled into spilling some secrets. Like maybe I'd believe that Vega had forced him into all this or something."

Peter laughed. "You have definitely been hanging around me too long, Tex. That has a distinctive Venkman flair about it."

"But it may work," Egon mused. "A few well-worded messages back to Fitzgerald's contacts to suggest he's working on us may even win him some points with his superiors."

"And those will be points he's going to need after this fiasco," Dillinger said with a sardonic twist to his lips. "I think you better go underground for a while, Hawk. Let them think you needed time to recuperate or something. Then you can come back with a new plan to further Spiritech's knowledge by milking the Ghostbusters."

"All coordinated with E-Branch, of course," Hawk said with a smile. "I like it. I definitely like it."

Just then a doctor and nurse pushed the door open and gawked at the crowd gathered in the room. "All right, enough is enough. Everybody out!" the doctor declared. "We need to get Doctor Marconi ready for transfer, and we can't do it with all of you in the way."

"I'll be in contact," Hawk said shortly with a wink and a wave before slipping out.

"Good luck, Sabrina," Ray said as he leaned down to give the Italian woman a quick hug. "I guess I'll see you when you come back for your date with Peter."

"You bet you will, Ray."

Janine was next. "It's nice to see a woman who won't put up with Doctor V's crap," she said as she squeezed the supine lady. "I'm glad you're going to be okay." She rose and joined Ray by the still-open door, where the doctor and nurse stood waiting impatiently. "It was nice meeting you and Dillinger, too," she said to Lau with an impish smile. "Even if he did nearly fry my hair."

"Never came close, Melnitz," Dillinger retorted. "That's not what I wanted to do, so it didn't happen."

Ray laughed. "Bye, Lau, Dillinger." Both redheads left the room.

Winston swept the bangs out of Sabrina's face before getting in his hug. "You're a strong lady. I know you'll be just fine - and more than a match for Pete." He grinned as he straightened to his full height. "Lau, Dillinger, it was interesting working with you two. I never expected to like a government agent, especially one a little hush-hush. Thanks for proving me wrong." He gave a wave and followed the others out.

Egon merely leaned forward and squeezed Sabrina's hand. "It was a pleasure, Sabrina." He leaned down and whispered in her ear. "And thank you for taking care of Peter. I'm sure he needed it more than he'd be willing to admit."

_He did_, she whispered in the physicist's mind. _But he's going to need you just as much. He counts on you to crack his shell for him. So you take care of him, too._ She merely smiled at the startled look on Egon's face as he straightened.

The blond cleared his throat. "Yes, well, of course." He gave her a sly wink. "Lau, Dillinger, it's been quite an experience. Good luck in the future, in case we don't encounter each other again."

"I have a strange feeling we just might, Egon. We just might," Lau said with a faint smile.

"Peter, go ahead and say your farewells, and I'll take you back to your room."

"Yes, Mom," Peter said over his shoulder with a smile. Using the bed rail as support, the brown-haired man pulled himself to his feet and leaned over the smiling Sabrina. "Don't mind me," he said dismissively. "That blast I took was like a lightning bolt to my system. I'll be fine, but I'm going to be pretty shaky for a while."

An ebony eyebrow rose. "How did you know I was worried?"

"I saw you flinch as I pulled myself up. You might as well have been wearing a neon sign." He grinned as her smile got wider. "I'm looking forward to our date, so you better be back. It's not nice to disappoint Doctor Venkman."

"I wouldn't do that. I'll be sure to get a hold of you as soon as I'm better and try to set up a time to come back."

"Good. Then there won't be any problems." He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. Her eyes were wide as he straightened and lowered himself carefully back into his wheelchair. "Just a promise of what's waiting for you in New York when you get back," he said with a soft smile.

"I'm looking forward to it."

"Lau, it was real. Keep an eye on these two - it sounds like they need it. And Dillinger... you just keep doing what you do." Peter grinned as the sniper laughed a bit and shook his head. "I'll catch you guys later. All right, Jeeves," he called haughtily to Egon over his shoulder. "You may return me to my room now."

"Peter, it is only because we are in a hospital that I am allowing you to get away with that statement in any regard. Don't push your luck." The two best friends moved out of the room and off in the direction of Peter's.

"All right, doctor," Lau said authoritatively as the doctor and nurse entered the room and shut the door. "This lovely young woman needs to get back to Colorado. Let's make it happen."

* * *

A week later, the guys had gathered in the lab, all of them involved in various tasks. Egon and Ray were making a few minor modifications to the destabilizer, Winston was recharging the proton packs, and Peter was sprawled out on the couch, looking for all the world like he was just aimlessly leafing through a random magazine but in actuality reading Egon's latest submission to one of the physicist's favorite scientific journals. The psychologist had quite recovered from his ordeal at Union Square, with only a minor random cramp every now and again to remind him of it.

This was how Janine found them when she brought up a large package wrapped in simple brown paper. "Hey, guys, this just came for you," she announced as she walked in the room.

"Wow, what is it?" Ray asked as he came bouncing over to the secretary.

"A box with something inside would be my guess," she responded with a grin. "Open it and find out! Who do you know in Colorado?"

The four of them shared a bewildered look before realization dawned. "I bet _I_ know who it is!" Peter enthused, putting the journal aside and coming over to the table where Ray had brought the box.

"I think we all do, Peter," Egon said dryly as the occultist tore into the paper, making quick work of the packaging and getting to the goodies inside.

"Here's an envelope with your name on it, Winston," Ray said, handing it over to the black man.

Winston tore open the flap and looked inside. He smiled when he saw the contents. "Tickets for the Jaguars! Great!" He pulled out the note that was with them. "'I wasn't sure what else to get you for just being such a sturdy rock to lean on, so I re-read your profile. Those are _season_ tickets. Maybe you can drag the others with you every now and again. Love, Sabrina.' Is that girl great or what?"

The others shared a reluctant look. "That's great, Winston," Peter said slowly. "Really great. I mean it." Winston gave him an elbow to the ribs.

"This box is for you, Egon," Ray said, digging back into the package.

The blond looked at it quizzically before opening the white box very carefully and drawing out the figurine inside. It was about six inches high depicting a brown baby dragon breaking out of its shell. Egon tensed slightly at the sight, remembering the incident with his 'family' dragon when he'd been forced to return the creature back to its magical slumber after accidentally waking it up in the first place, and the others wondered how he was going to react. Then he pulled a small piece of paper out of the box and read it. "Egon," the note began, "I thought you might like this. I call the little guy 'Peter'. I think you know why. Love, Sabrina." He smiled knowingly after he read the note silently and tucked it back in with the figurine to be dealt with later, his demeanor completely relaxed.

"Aren't you going to tell us what she wrote, Spengs?" Peter asked outrageously, seeing from his friend's reaction that it was something between him and Sabrina, but wanting to make sure everything was okay.

Egon looked speculatively at the psychologist and shot a quick look back at the open box. He smiled a touch wickedly. "It's nothing you'd understand anyway, Peter. The commentary is very subtle."

"Are you trying to tell me I can't be subtle?"

"I haven't said anything, Peter." The smile softened into something more genuine.

"But if the shoe fits..." Winston said suggestively. Peter made a raspberry at him.

"Oh, hey, this is for me!" Ray enthused, pulling out the main source of weight in the box. The newspaper wrapping them was quickly torn away, revealing a stack of hardcover books tied together with twine with a folded note on top of the first book. "'I happened across these recently and thought you might like to re-add them to your collection,'" Ray read from the note. "'I highly suggest you don't loan these out as I'm not sure they can be replaced. First editions are always hard to come by. You know, like you! Love, Sabrina.'" The redhead put the piece of paper aside and slipped out the first book. He gasped when he opened the cover. "She was right! This _is_ a first edition! And it's autographed by Victor Lazlo himself! Wow!" He hugged the book to his chest and grinned a mile wide.

"I wonder where she managed to find these," Egon mused. "A complete hardcover collection of Victor Lazlo's works - autographed no less - must have cost her a small fortune."

"Hey, she works for the government," Winston said, still glowing over his own gift. "And as a long-time agent for the CIA. I bet she _makes_ a small fortune."

"And considering what E-Branch does, she sure has the right connections," Ray added.

"Makes you wonder all the same though," Peter said thoughtfully.

"I'm supposed to give you guys the letter that came with the box now," Janine said with a smile. "I love it when _I_ get instructions with _your_ gifts." She handed the sealed envelope to Egon importantly.

"Separate letter just for you, huh, Janine?" Peter asked as the physicist opened the letter.

"Along with a little something for me. Just a secret between us girls," she said haughtily.

"Yes, well, I believe you'll like this part, Peter," Egon interrupted, handing the psychologist a check.

Peter snatched at it and gasped when he saw the number. "Who wouldn't like this? That's a whole lot of zeroes." He whistled appreciatively. "I wonder what VL Industries really is?" he mused.

"Would you like to know what Sabrina had to say?" Egon asked impatiently.

"Oh, sure. Why not?" Peter grinned. "Go for it, big guy. Story time."

Egon shot his friend one last stern look before beginning. "'Peter, Ray, Egon, and Winston. I know Peter said that getting paid was enough for helping us deal with Vega, but I figured the rest of you weren't quite that mercenary. That and I knew just the gifts I could give all of you that you would really like. So that's what's in here. There are individual notes to explain anything you may not understand, and if I didn't explain it, there's probably a reason.'

"'Now don't tell Lau, but I also sent along one of my business cards for each of you. I consider each of you my friend, and my friends deserve to know how to get a hold of me whenever they want. In this line of work friends are hard to come by and even harder to keep, but I know you pretty much understand what I deal with on a day to day basis (then again, maybe not, but you've never been in the Basement either). Thank you for being so wonderful to me and the rest of my team while I was there, and being there when we really needed you the most. You did more than we certainly had any right to expect, and I want you to know it was appreciated.'

"'Your Friend In Strange Places,'

"'Dr. Sabrina Marconi.'

"'P.S. Ha, ha! I actually got Lau and Dillinger to agree to write you something! Victory is mine!'

"'P.S.S. Hey, there, guys. I've been told everyone has bounced back quite well from our little adventure and that's really great. I wish you the best of luck as you face the stuff that I would have said only existed in dreams and nightmares before I got involved in this. Just know that there are a few people out here who can relate (and some who wish they couldn't).'

"'Lau Long.'

"'P.S.S.S. I hear you're all still alive and still hard at work, and I guess that's all anyone can hope for. May it continue.'

"'Later,'

"'Captain James Dillinger.'"

"She really is a great lady, isn't she?" Ray asked with a soft smile as Egon folded up the letter and replaced it in the envelope.

"Definitely. A class act all the way," Winston agreed.

"So what are we supposed to do next, Janine, since you got the instructions?" Peter asked, his normal smirk tempered by a barely noticeable gentleness in his expression.

"Peter can have his letter now, and the rest of you should probably get supper ready." The four men stared at her. "Hey, it's in the letter, I swear! She must have known about what time it was going to be delivered!"

Ray silently reached into the box one last time and pulled out the letter that had rested on the bottom beneath all the other presents and the packing that had surrounded them. He handed it to his friend and began to lead the others out of the lab. "I'll take care of dinner," he declared with a sly smile. "There's a new recipe I found in one of my Uncle Andrew's old letters..."

"Uh, no, that's okay, Ray," Winston said as he hurried off after the redheaded occultist. "I was thinking about something my mother suggested actually. I promise!" The two of them left the room with Janine right behind them, laughing.

Egon watched as Peter opened his letter and read it quietly, a fond smirk twisting his lips. Finally he set it down and moved over to the computer, turning it on. "You know, Spengs," he said gently, shifting slightly away from the keyboard, "she's a great lady. I really want to get to know her."

"Then do so. You know how to get a hold of her."

"Yeah." He paused and gazed at the active screen. "She's a supernatural spy, Egon."

"She never hid it from you at least."

"True." He turned back to look at his best friend. "Do you like her?"

Egon chuckled. "Are you looking for my approval? That would be a first."

Peter smiled back. "No, not that. I just want to know what you really think."

"I think she's very special, and she's someone who can relate to you in a way the rest of us can't. She has a similar background, schooling-wise, and she can completely understand what you do for a living and why it's so important to you."

"You guys do that, too. Why is she different?"

"She's on the outside looking in, and can still understand. You've told me numerous times that sometimes it takes multiple viewpoints to make a whole picture. Maybe you need that from her, and can provide it in return. With our clearance, she can tell you some things she could never tell a regular civilian, things that her teammates may not understand her reaction to, having gone through it with her. But I think you know all this already, Peter. Why are you having me repeat it?"

"I guess I wanted to make sure it wasn't just my hormones talking. But I think, more than anything, I want to be her friend. She tried so hard to help me out while we were being held captive, not to mention sticking with me when she knew I was possessed. I want to return the favor. Even after everything she went through, you know what she told me in that letter? If there's ever anything I want a second opinion about after talking it over with you guys, I can go to her. If I just need that outside viewpoint, she's willing to give it."

"That's the kind of person she is," Egon replied gently in response to Peter's bewildered tone. "Maybe you should let her see the kind of person _you_ are, if you truly want to be her friend." He picked up the box with Sabrina's present inside and took a few steps toward the door. "I'll meet you in the kitchen after you finish writing Sabrina," he said with a knowing smile.

Peter returned the expression. "You _would_ know. Hey, Egon," he called as the blond reached the open double doors. Egon stopped and faced him. "Thanks for being there for me. I really do appreciate all of you and what you do for me."

"It's nothing less than you do for us, Peter. That's what this team is all about. Now hurry before Ray outmaneuvers Winston in the kitchen and we end up with something along the lines of haggis."

"Message received. I won't be long, promise." Peter watched Egon leave, shutting the doors behind himself, then turned back to the computer, making his way quickly to the email program. He punched the right buttons to send a new message, typed in the address Sabrina had given him in his letter, and began to follow Egon's advice.

"Sabrina,

"I don't know when you'll be reading this, since you said you were going back on duty (you're going to have to fill me in on how you people do that quick-fix thing for major injuries - there could be some money in it), but I know it needed to be said. Thank you for your letter - it means a lot to me. But even more important is that I make this offer to you: I'll come to you if you come to me. I know you can't tell me everything, but you can tell me more than most people. And I'm willing to listen. Maybe this way we can get to know each other better, and I think I'd like that.

"Let me know when you get back from wherever you're going and we'll set up our date (if you thought I'd forget you are sadly mistaken). Be sure to have lots of details about anything supernatural you might have run into for the kiddies - but tell them afterward. If you start before we'll never get out of the firehouse. I'm really looking forward to this. Write me as soon as you can.

"Peter

"P.S. By the way, the presents were a big success. If I could only figure out what you got Janine... PV"

He tapped the send button, waited for his confirmation, then shut it all down. Peter then walked over to where he had left his letter from Sabrina, pocketed it, and headed for the stairs to the second floor. He'd taken the first step, now he'd wait and see where it would lead him. He had a feeling he was looking at something pretty special with Sabrina, no matter how it turned out, but inside there was already a deep contentment with what he had - three, four with Janine, of the greatest friends one person could ever hope to have. He smiled as that thought crossed his mind and he hurried down to join the laughter he could hear echoing up the stairs. 

The End


End file.
